Earthrise: ‘How a Picture Transformed Our View of Ourselves’

Travel Blog  •  Eva Holland  •  12.02.08 | 1:41 PM ET

On the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 8 launch, the Guardian offers this thoughtful essay about the mission, its accomplishments and the iconic photograph (pictured) shot by its NASA crew. “Certainly, Earthrise is a striking reminder of Earth’s vulnerability,” Robin McKie writes. “We may have forgotten the men who risked their lives getting to the Moon and who explored its dead landscape—a ‘beat-up’ world as they put it—but the view they brought back of that glittering blue hemisphere continues to mesmerise.”

Tags: NASA, Space Travel, Travel 2.0, Shrinking Planet

Eva Holland is the senior editor of World Hum. Her writing has also appeared in the National Post, the Montreal Gazette, the Ottawa Citizen and WestJet's Up! Magazine, among other publications. She's based in Ottawa, Canada.


1 Comment for Earthrise: ‘How a Picture Transformed Our View of Ourselves’

Essay 12.16.08 | 11:41 AM ET

I read the whole volume of different stories about the first US lunar mission but never saw the trip in that light. Not a surprise, but the most important evidence for human beings ever was an image - not a smell or sound.
And the pic is really breathtaking… it is often a source of inspiration for me and for people who once seen the blue bulb :)
Nice article
Thanks
Guy

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