See the original version of ‘Earthrise,’ taken 59 years ago this week — Space photo of the week
Rapid facts
What is: The first photo of the world of the moon land
Where is it: Lunar orbit, at around 239,000 miles (385,000 kilometers) of the land
When it was shared: August 23, 2025 (initially taken on August 23, 1966)
The first look of Humanity on the earth of the moon did not come before August 23, 1966, when this grainy and black and white image showed our planet as a crescent above the lunar horizon, seeming to rise while the spatial vessel turning from the camera moved in orbit.
At the time, it was a historical image – and totally unforeseen, according to Nasa. The first view of the earth from the Moon came from the Lunar Orbit 1 of NASA, which transmitted the image to a follow -up station in Robledo de Chavela near Madrid.
Lunar Orbiter 1, the first American spacecraft to orbit the Moon, was launched on an atlas-Afage D Cape Canaveral, Florida rocket on August 10, 1966, and entered the lunar orbit four days later. It was on a cartographic mission, designed to photograph potentially safe landing sites on the moon for the NASA surveyor and Apollo missions, according to NASA. Although the camera’s camera system was not very detailed, it took much more detailed views from the lunar orbit than possible from the earth to the largest telescopes at the time.
The camera of Lunar Orbiter 1, manufactured by Eastman Kodak, presented an automated system which developed an exposed film, scanned the images and transmitted them to the earth. The camera was initially developed by the National Recognition Office and was transported by plane to the Samos espionage satellites of the Cold War era which were launched by the United States in the 1960s, according to NASA.
Lunar Orbiter 1 orbited the Moon for 76 days until it deliberately crashed on the Moon on October 29, 1966.
In relation: The James Webb telescope captures one of the deepest views of the universe
Lunar Orbiter 1 camera has taken photographs of nine potential landing sites from Apollo and seven rescue sites. The earth as a crescent was photographed on August 23, 1966, at 4:35 pm GMT, when the spaceship was on its 16th orbit, a few moments before passing in the dark on the distant side of the moon.
More than two years later, Christmas Eve, 1968, Bill Anders, a lunar module pilot on Apollo 8, the first mission of the lunar orbit, broke the emblematic “Earthworks“Photo. This superior color image caught the attention of humanity as a cultural milestone, but it was the very similar photo of Lunar Orbiter 1 as a crescent behind the moon, taken two years earlier, it was the first technique.
For more images of sublime space, consult our Archives week space photo.
