Apollo 8 Crew Captures First Color Image of Earth From Lunar Orbit

On December 24, 1968, Apollo 8 astronauts completed a milestone by becoming the first humans to orbit the Moon and observe Earth rising above its horizon. This event marked a notable achievement in space exploration and photography.

Frank Borman, Jim Lovell, and Bill Anders participated in the mission, which included capturing images of Earth from lunar orbit. During the mission’s fourth orbit, Bill Anders first photographed Earthrise in black and white, then quickly switched to color film to capture the first color image of Earth from this vantage point.

The photograph, later known as “Earthrise,” was taken at approximately 16:39:39 UTC. Anders used a modified Hasselblad 500 EL camera loaded with Kodak Ektachrome color film to document the moment.

Before Apollo 8, the first image of Earth from the vicinity of the Moon had been recorded by the unmanned Lunar Orbiter 1 on August 23, 1966. That earlier photograph was in black and white and taken remotely, rather than by a human observer.

What the numbers show

• The Apollo 8 “Earthrise” color photo was taken on December 24, 1968, at 16:39:39 UTC
• The first full-disk color image of Earth by a person was captured on December 21, 1968
• Lunar Orbiter 1 took the first image of Earth from the Moon on August 23, 1966

The Apollo 8 mission represented the first time people directly witnessed and recorded Earth rising above the lunar surface. This achievement was made possible by the crew’s use of specialized photographic equipment during their orbits around the Moon.

The “Earthrise” image provided a new perspective on Earth’s appearance from space, as seen by humans rather than automated spacecraft. The use of color film allowed for a more detailed and vivid representation of the planet’s features from lunar orbit.

Bill Anders also captured the first full-disk color image of Earth during the Apollo 8 mission on December 21, 1968. This photograph contributed to the visual documentation of Earth from space by a human observer.

NASA documented these milestones as part of its ongoing efforts to explore and record the Moon and Earth from various vantage points. The Apollo 8 mission remains a key event in the history of human spaceflight and space photography.

* This article is based on publicly available information at the time of writing.