Relive One of History's Most Stunning Photographs as the Astronauts Saw it in 4K

"Earthrise" is by far one of the most famous photographs ever taken, shot by astronaut Bill Anders on December 24, 1968, nearly 50 years ago, as he and fellow astronauts orbited the Moon. Using modern data and matching it with that from the mission, this stunning visualization shows what the astronauts saw in 4K.

Coming to you from NASA Goddard, this awesome video shows the process of taking "Earthrise" on Apollo 8. Astronaut took the shot on a modified Hasselbad 500 EL with an electric drive on special Kodak Ektachrome film, for which he used a 250mm lens at 1/250 s and f/11. The photo went on to have a well-earned legacy, being listed by Life Magazine as one of "100 Photographs That Changed the World," having a postage stamp that featured it, and even prompting the International Astronomical Union to name one of the craters seen on the Moon as "Anders' Earthrise." The video above features a recording of the astronauts speaking to each other as they realize the incredible photographic opportunity that's just appeared, and the excitement in their voices is quite noticeable. Props to Jim Lovell for being sure to mention the exposure data for us! 

Lead image via NASA, used under public domain.

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user-207913's picture

This is great. Thank you for pointing it out. I might have missed it otherwise. I was six years old when this image was taken, and watching this video it almost feels like I am again.

thomas Palmer's picture

Could "coming to you from" be banned from your articles ? You use that all the time

Cool! Could you imagine being there.Thanks for posting Alex.

Jonathan Adams's picture

They weren't supposed to photograph the scene originally... They had limited amount o f film and their instructions were to photograph the moon without any thought of photographing the earth.