Earthrise: Bill Anders Remembers Taking the Photo From Apollo 8

The first to see Earthrise

On December 24, 1968, Apollo 8 astronauts Frank Borman, Jim Lovell and Bill Anders became the first humans to orbit the Moon — and the first to see Earth rise over its horizon. NASA's chief scientist and senior climate adviser, Dr. Katherine Calvin, sat down with Anders to talk about the photograph he took, "Earthrise."

"Hand me a roll of color, quick"

Anders said he had been given only a little photography training — he had taken a Hasselblad home for practice — and the crew had no light meter. For their first several orbits they flew upside down and backwards and never saw Earth. Then, as Borman turned the spacecraft to fly forward, Anders caught a flash of color from the corner of his eye.

The onboard recording captured the moment:

Anders: Oh, my God. Look at that picture over there! There's the Earth coming up. Wow, is that pretty! … You got a color film, Jim? Hand me a roll of color, quick, would you?
>
Lovell: Oh, man, that's great! … Take several, take several of 'em! Here, give it to me.
>
Anders: Wait a minute, just let me get the right setting here now, just calm down.

With no meter, Anders just took a shot, changed the f-stop, and took another. Without Earthrise, he joked, people would have asked, "Bill who?"

A fragile ornament

On the way to the Moon, Anders recalled, Earth looked about the size of his fist at arm's length; he could not see continents, let alone people. It was Christmastime, and the planet reminded him of a fragile Christmas tree ornament — and he thought it was too bad people don't treat it that carefully. The photo, he said, helped kick off Earth Day and made people realize the planet was fragile and delicate. Calvin keeps it on her office wall as a reminder of why NASA does its work: science, inspiration, innovation — and home.

Anders is known for a line he said he could hardly believe was his, it was so poetic: "We went to the Moon to explore the Moon, and what we discovered was the Earth."

Watching Earth from space

Asked what he would tell future scientists and astronauts, Anders pointed to looking back at Earth from space — from the space station and from Landsat, which he said he had fought for. Calvin noted that Landsat, with 50 years of imagery, is how most people see Earth change, and that its data help landowners everywhere. Studying Earth remains one of NASA's most important missions; more at nasa.gov/Earth.

Sources

Based on "Earthrise: A Conversation with Apollo 8 Astronaut Bill Anders" (official NASA video), NASA Image and Video Library; a work of the United States government in the public domain. Quotations are from the Apollo 8 onboard recording and the conversation as transcribed in the video.