Earthrise: one of 20th century's most iconic images, signed by astronaut Jim Lovell

NASA Photograph.

Earthrise from Apollo 8.

Washington, D.C. NASA, 1968.

1st Edition. No Binding. Fine. Item #003197

NASA negative no. AS08-14-2383. William Anders, December 24, 1968. Size 11 x 14 inches (272 x 350 mm). Chromogenic print laid down on matt 16 x 20 inches, signed in felt-tip pen on the matt 'To: Myra and Roy - With best wishes, James Lovell, Apollo 8, 13' and 'Earthrise from Apollo Eight 12/24/68' The photograph in perfect condition, mounted on cardboard. Provenance: Aurora Galleries. ----

Earthrise is the name popularly given to NASA image AS08-14-2383, taken by astronaut William Anders during the Apollo 8 mission. The astronaut crew, Commander Frank Borman, Command Module Pilot James Lovell, and Lunar Module Pilot William Anders, experienced several firsts in flight: they were the first humans to travel beyond the Earth's orbit, the first to see Earth as a whole planet, the first to directly see the far side of the Moon, and the first to witness Earthrise. On this image, the rising Earth is about five degrees above the lunar horizon in this telephoto view taken from the Apollo 8 spacecraft near 110 degrees east longitude. The horizon, about 570 kilometers (350 statute miles) from the spacecraft, is near the eastern limb of the moon as viewed from Earth. Width of the view at the horizon is about 150 km (95 statute miles). On Earth 240,000 statute miles away the sunset terminator crosses Africa. The crew took the photo around 10:40 a.m. Houston time on the morning of Dec. 24, and that would make it 15:40 GMT on the same day. The South Pole is in the white area near the left end of the terminator. North and South America are under the clouds. (NASA online resource).

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