The story of the most famous photos in history

June 28, 2024

On October 5 1957 The Soviet Union launched the first satellite into space.

The space race between the Soviet Union and the US had started.

The Soviet Union continued to make breakthroughs. They were the first to

  • Send a living creature into space, a dog named Laika

  • On April 12 1961, Yuri Gagarin became the first person to orbit the Earth.

  • On September 14 1968 a ship went to the Moon and back and carried a monkey, two tortoises, and some mealworms

In 1968 intelligence reports suggested the Soviet Union was getting ready to send a man to the moon.

If NASA wanted to win, they had to act.

Normally, Apollo missions took a year of careful planning. In 1968 they took 4 months.

But many thought it was too risky

Only 18 months earlier three NASA astronauts were killed when a fire started during a rehearsal on Apollo 1

Another tragedy and NASA might not survive.

But the mission was given the green light.

The three astronauts chosen for the mission to the moon, Frank Borman, Jim Lovell and Bill Anders, kissed their wives and children goodbye and on December 21 1968 Apollo 8 launched.

Luckily, the trip went almost exactly as planned, and after 3 days of travel, they reached the moon.

For 20 hours they orbited the moon. Their main job was to take pictures and find possible places for a moon landing for future missions.

Then a magic moment happened on their fourth orbit.

As they came around the side of the moon, they saw the Earth peaking up.

“Oh, my God!” Bill called out. “Look at that picture over there! Here’s the Earth coming up. Wow, is that pretty!”

Bill Anders

Bill took his Hasselblad 500 EL still camera and Zeiss Sonnar 250 mm telephoto lens and started taking pictures.

Including this one:

It’s called Earthrise and it’s one of the most famous photos in history

“For the first time in history, mankind was looking back at itself—at all of”

Robert Kurson

In 1968, it seemed the world was divided.

  • The Vietnam War had killed thousands

  • Martin Luther King jr and Robert Kennedy were assassinated

  • There were racial and anti-Vietnam War protests all across the US.

The Earthrise photo offered perspective and a sense of unity..

It was printed in magazines around the world, President Johnson sent a print of Earthrise to every world leader and it also helped inspire the environmental movement. It became a symbol for this beautiful precious planet we need to protect.

"We set out to explore the moon and instead discovered the Earth."

Bill Anders

Cheers,

Jared

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