Apollo 8 Astronaut William Anders Imaged Earthrise Tuesday, Dec. 24, 1968

Summary: Apollo 8 astronaut William Anders imaged Earthrise Tuesday, Dec. 24, 1968, during the mission spacecraft’s fourth revolution around the moon.

first of two color photographs of Earthrise, taken Dec. 24, 1968, at approximately 10:40 a.m. Houston time (15:40 Greenwich Mean Time; 075:49:07 Ground Elapsed Time) from the Apollo 8 spacecraft by Lunar Module Pilot (LMP) William Anders after his first black-and-white Earthrise photo; lunar horizon distanced at about 570 kilometers (350 statute miles), with horizon view width of about 150 kilometers (95 statute miles); Earth distanced at 240,000 statute miles; NASA ID AS08-14-2383: NASA Johnson Space Center Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit, NASA does not maintain a copyright, via Gateway to Astronaut Photography of Earth

Apollo 8 astronaut William Anders imaged Earthrise Tuesday, Dec. 24, 1968, as Apollo Command-Service Module (CSM) 103 rounded the lunar far side during the spacecraft’s fourth of 10 revolutions around the moon.

Mission Commander Frank Frederick Borman II (born March 14, 1928) was positioned in the spacecraft’s left-hand seat. He was maneuvering the ship into proper orientation for focus on a lunar target. His front-facing rendezvous window supported one of the mission’s two Hasselblad 500 EL electric cameras, fitted with an 80 millimeter lens.

Command Module Pilot James “Jim” Arthur Lovell Jr. (born March 25, 1928) was situated in the lower equipment bay. He was preparing to sight lunar landmarks with the onboard sextant.

William Alison Anders (born Oct. 17, 1933) occupied the spacecraft’s right-hand seat for viewing and photographing through his side window. Anders was designated as the mission’s Lunar Module Pilot (LMP), even though the mission lacked a lunar module. His responsibilities included taking the photographs of specified targets of opportunity (T/O) and of potential landing sites for future landing missions.

Anders held the mission’s other Hasselblad camera. His Hasselblad was fitted with a Zeiss Sonnar f/5.6 250-millimeter telephoto lens.

At approximately 10:38 a.m. Houston time (11:38 a.m. Eastern Standard Time; 16:38:32.6 Universal Time), which was 75 hours 47 minutes 33 seconds Mission Elapsed Time (75:47:32 MET), Anders exclaimed: “Oh, my God! Look at that picture over there!” Anders elaborated: “There’s the Earth coming up. Wow, is that pretty!”

Commander Borman joked: “Hey, don’t take that, it’s not scheduled.”

Anders then asked CMP Lovell: “You got a color film, Jim? Hand me a roll of color, quick, would you?”

Lovell agreed about the view of a rising Earth: “Oh man, that’s great!” Searching for the color film in the equipment bay, he asked: “Where is it?

Anders prodded: “Hurry. Quick.”

Lovell asked: “Down here?”

Anders responded: “Just grab me a color. A color exterior.” Then he urged: “Hurry up.” And again Anders prodded: “Got one?”

Lovell explained: “Yeah, I’m looking for one. C 368.”

C 368 references film type S0-368 Ektachrome color reversal. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) Apollo 8 Press Kit, released Sunday, Dec. 15, 1968, six days before the Saturday, Dec. 21, launch, itemized the mission’s film stowage as including two magazines of S0-368 for a total of 352 frames.

Anders urged: “Anything. Quick.”

Lovell finally announced: “Here.”

Anders had first captured the rising Earth in a black-and-white photograph obtained with a Zeiss Sonnar f/5.6 250-millimeter telephoto lens (NASA ID AS08-13-2329). Anders obtained the black-and-white photograph from his side window.

By the time Anders had loaded the color film transferred to him by Lovell, however, the spacecraft’s barbecue-spit style of turning had occasioned Earth’s disappeared from view through the side window. Anders announced: “Well, I think we missed it.”

Earthrise, however, then appeared in Lovell’s hatch window. He told Anders: “Hey, I got it right here.” Lovell then prompted Anders: “Bill, I got it framed. It’s very clearly here.”

Anders confidently answered “Yep” to Lovell’s questioning, “Got it?”

Lovell then directed Anders: “Take several, take several up here! Give it to me.”

Anders explained that he needed to “get the right setting here now. Just calm down. Calm down, Lovell!”

Lovell expressed concern: “Well, I got it right; aw, that’s beautiful shot.” Lovell then suggested varying “the exposure a little bit.”

Anders took two color photographs of Earthrise (NASA ID AS08-14-2383, NASA ID AS08-14-2384) from Lovell’s hatch window. He confirmed to Lovell: “I did. I took two of them here.”

The takeaway for Apollo 8 astronaut William Anders’ images of Earthrise Tuesday, Dec. 24, 1968, is that his Christmas Eve photographs capture Earth rising above the lunar near side’s horizon in one black-and-white and two color portraits.

second of two color photographs of Earthrise, taken from the Apollo 8 spacecraft Dec. 24, 1968, by Lunar Module Pilot (LMP) William Anders after his first black-and-white Earthrise photo; lunar horizon, with a view width of about 150 kilometers (95 statute miles), is viewed from a distance of 570 kilometers (350 statute miles); Earth lies at a distance of 240,000 statute miles; NASA ID AS08-14-2384: NASA Johnson Space Center Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit, NASA does not maintain a copyright, via Gateway to Astronaut Photography of Earth

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

first of two color photographs of Earthrise, taken Dec. 24, 1968, at approximately 10:40 a.m. Houston time (15:40 Greenwich Mean Time; 075:49:07 Ground Elapsed Time) from the Apollo 8 spacecraft by Lunar Module Pilot (LMP) William Anders after his first black-and-white Earthrise photo; lunar horizon distanced at about 570 kilometers (350 statute miles), with horizon view width of about 150 kilometers (95 statute miles); Earth distanced at 240,000 statute miles; NASA ID AS08-14-2383: NASA Johnson Space Center Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit, NASA does not maintain a copyright, via Gateway to Astronaut Photography of Earth @ https://eol.jsc.nasa.gov/SearchPhotos/photo.pl?mission=AS08&roll=14&frame=2383;
Generally not subject to copyright in the United States; may use this material for educational or informational purposes, including photo collections, textbooks, public exhibits, computer graphical simulations and Internet Web pages; general permission extends to personal Web pages, via NASA Image and Video Library @ https://images.nasa.gov/details-as08-14-2383;
via NASA Public Affairs Office (PAO)-Apollo Lunar Surface Journal (ALSJ) @ https://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/alsj/a410/AS8-14-2383HR.jpg

second of two color photographs of Earthrise, taken from the Apollo 8 spacecraft Dec. 24, 1968, by Lunar Module Pilot (LMP) William Anders after his first black-and-white Earthrise photo; lunar horizon, with a view width of about 150 kilometers (95 statute miles), is viewed from a distance of 570 kilometers (350 statute miles); Earth lies at a distance of 240,000 statute miles; NASA ID AS08-14-2384: NASA Johnson Space Center Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit, NASA does not maintain a copyright, via Gateway to Astronaut Photography of Earth @ https://eol.jsc.nasa.gov/SearchPhotos/photo.pl?mission=AS08&roll=14&frame=2384;
Generally not subject to copyright in the United States; may use this material for educational or informational purposes, including photo collections, textbooks, public exhibits, computer graphical simulations and Internet Web pages; general permission extends to personal Web pages, via NASA Image and Video Library @ https://images.nasa.gov/details-as08-14-2384

For further information:

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