Photo of the Day: Celebrating the 'Earthrise' 50 Years Later...

Today marks 5 decades since Apollo 8 astronaut Bill Anders took this Christmas Eve snapshot of the Earth rising above the Moon. This marked the first time that humanity glimpsed its home planet from orbit above another world—forever changing the way mankind viewed the fragile beauty of Earth.

Hopefully, astronauts will be able to photograph Earth from lunar orbit again less than 5 years from now (on Exploration Mission-2 in early 2023)...or via remote cameras aboard Orion in less than two years, when the capsule is set to head to the Moon during the Space Launch System's maiden flight on Exploration Mission-1 in mid-2020. Happy Holidays!


NASA / Bill Anders