Earthrise Photograph, Apollo 8
12/24/1968
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Popularly known as Earthrise, this photograph taken by Apollo 8 astronaut William Anders depicts the Earth from a distance of nearly 240,000 miles.
Apollo 8 was the first manned spaceflight to successfully orbit the Moon and return to Earth. While the mission objectives related to preparing for future lunar operations, the crew experienced something that no person had ever seen before--the Earth "rising" over the Moon.
The original database describes this as Apollo 8, the rising Earth is about five degrees above the lunar horizon in this telephoto view taken from the Apollo 8 spacecraft near 110 degrees east longitude. The horizon, about 570 kilometers (350 statute miles) from the spacecraft, is near the eastern limb of the Moon as viewed from the Earth. Width of the view at the horizon is about 150 kilometers (95 statute miles). On the Earth 240,000 statute miles away the sunset terminator crosses Africa. The crew took the photo around 10:40 a.m. Houston time on the morning of December 24, and that would make it 15:40 GMT on the same day. The South Pole is in the white area near the left end of the terminator. North and South America are under the clouds. Camera Tilt Mode: High Oblique. Direction: West. Sun Angle: Near SSP Original Film Magazine was labeled B. Camera Data: 70mm Hasselblad. F-Stop: F-5.6;Shutter Speed 1/250; Lens: 250mm. Film Type: Kodak SO-368 Color ASA 64. Flight Date: December 21-27,1968.
Apollo 8 was the first manned spaceflight to successfully orbit the Moon and return to Earth. While the mission objectives related to preparing for future lunar operations, the crew experienced something that no person had ever seen before--the Earth "rising" over the Moon.
The original database describes this as Apollo 8, the rising Earth is about five degrees above the lunar horizon in this telephoto view taken from the Apollo 8 spacecraft near 110 degrees east longitude. The horizon, about 570 kilometers (350 statute miles) from the spacecraft, is near the eastern limb of the Moon as viewed from the Earth. Width of the view at the horizon is about 150 kilometers (95 statute miles). On the Earth 240,000 statute miles away the sunset terminator crosses Africa. The crew took the photo around 10:40 a.m. Houston time on the morning of December 24, and that would make it 15:40 GMT on the same day. The South Pole is in the white area near the left end of the terminator. North and South America are under the clouds. Camera Tilt Mode: High Oblique. Direction: West. Sun Angle: Near SSP Original Film Magazine was labeled B. Camera Data: 70mm Hasselblad. F-Stop: F-5.6;Shutter Speed 1/250; Lens: 250mm. Film Type: Kodak SO-368 Color ASA 64. Flight Date: December 21-27,1968.
This primary source comes from the Records of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
National Archives Identifier: 16670351
Full Citation: Apollo 8 Mission image, Earth over the horizon of the moon; 12/24/1968; 255-AMP-AS08-14-2383; Apollo 8 - AS08-12-2044 through AS08-18-2908, 11/9/1967 - 12/19/1972; Photographs of the Apollo Space Program, 11/9/1967 - 12/19/1972; Records of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Record Group 255; National Archives at College Park, College Park, MD. [Online Version, https://www.docsteach.org/documents/document/earthrise-apollo-8, June 20, 2025]Rights: Public Domain, Free of Known Copyright Restrictions. Learn more on our privacy and legal page.
