Apollo 8 Earthrise sighting - reconstruction

[lpetrich]

From Dec. 24: Earthrise: First seen from space 50 years ago today. « Why Evolution Is True:
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Its description:

In December of 1968, the crew of Apollo 8 became the first people to leave our home planet and travel to another body in space. But as crew members Frank Borman, James Lovell, and William Anders all later recalled, the most important thing they discovered was Earth. Using photo mosaics and elevation data from Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO), this video commemorates Apollo 8's historic flight by recreating the moment when the crew first saw and photographed the Earth rising from behind the Moon. Narrator Andrew Chaikin, author of "A Man on the Moon," sets the scene for a three-minute visualization of the view from both inside and outside the spacecraft accompanied by the onboard audio of the astronauts.

It became a famous picture, for very good reason.

These three astronauts were the first people to get to the distance of the Moon, and over the next four years, they were joined by twenty-one others. No human space travelers have gone out that far in the years since, though some 500+ people have gone into low Earth orbit over that time.


We have sent remote-controlled spacecraft far beyond the Moon, however, and some of them have looked back a few times.

The Earth from Mars:
Your Home Planet, as Seen From Mars | NASA
Space Images | You are here: Earth as seen from Mars
Curiosity Rover Sees Earth from Mars for 1st Time (Photos)

The Earth from Saturn:
Cassini: Earth and Saturn “The Day Earth Smiled” | NASA

The Earth from Pluto's Distance:
Space Images | Solar System Portrait - Earth as 'Pale Blue Dot'

The Earth from Outside the Solar System (simulation of Earth's light curves):
Simulations of Light Curves from Earth-like Exoplanets - Planetary Habitability Laboratory @ UPR Arecibo
The Earth would indeed look bluish, except when the Sahara Desert is in view -- its bright yellow makes the Earth look neutral-colored.