A First Glimpse of Our Magnificent Earth, Seen From the Moon

May 14, 2023 9:10 AM

The first people to view our planet from the moon were transformed by the experience. In this film, they tell their story. Emmanuel Vaughan-Lee (editor and podcast host of the ruminative Emergence Magazine) and Adam Loften created the Emmy nominated video Earthrise in 2018.

I wondered what role this image could offer us 50 years later as we face intense political, social and ecological upheaval. Could it become a symbol of remembrance that unites us?

View the rest of the Earthrise project here.

posted by Ahmad Khani (10 comments total)

This film didn’t win an Emmy—it was nominated in the Outstanding Short Documentary category.
posted by Ideefixe at 10:00 AM on May 14, 2023

Thanks for that. I've alerted the mods to adjust the fpp.
posted by Ahmad Khani at 10:22 AM on May 14, 2023

A few other pictures in a similar vein:

• The first picture claimed to show the curvature of the Earth (arguable), taken from the Explorer II balloon above South Dakota from a height of 22 kilometers, 11 November 1935.
• The first picture of Earth taken from space, 24 October 1946. Shot from V-2 no.13, war booty from the Nazis launched from White Sands Missile Range and at an altitude of ~105 kilometers.
• First image of the far side of the Moon, taken by the Soviet Luna 3 probe, 7 October 1959.
• Video of Earth and Moon orbiting each other as the Juno probe flies by for a gravity assist in October 2013.
• Earth as seen from the surface of Mars by Curiosity rover on 21 January 2014.
• The Moon, far side showing, passing in front of the Earth, as captured by the DISCOVR probe on 16 July 2015 and from a distance of ~1.6 million kilometers.

posted by Quindar Beep at 10:55 AM on May 14, 2023 [14 favorites]

It did not really dawn on me till recently that the earth would pretty much just sit in the sky spinning in place. It would not move or set. (well it would move back and forth a few degrees.
posted by boilermonster at 1:00 PM on May 14, 2023

Incredible film. Unfortunately also profoundly depressing that those of us who are earthbound could not be so easily brought to that realisation that, as Lovell says, we are all astronauts whether we like it or not. I suppose our earthly concerns will always be more pressing. I hope that we can one day all have the opportunity to experience something similar and that it might change our worldview too. Just don't hold your breath.
posted by Acey at 2:28 PM on May 14, 2023

as we face intense political, social and ecological upheaval. Could it become a symbol of remembrance that unites us?

I have long that so and still do.

And yet. Naomi Klein has a fierce argument against Earthrise in This Changes Everything. I can't find my copy of it, but to paraphrase, she sees the overall picture as a poor distraction from on-the-ground reality. Animals, watersheds, people, plants matter at a very small, very local level. Seeing the world at that uber-macro scale loses sight of such reality.

Again, I don't agree with her, but I keep thinking about this counterargument.
posted by doctornemo at 6:28 PM on May 14, 2023

First image of the far side of the Moon, taken by the Soviet Luna 3 probe, 7 October 1959.

А если твоя голова тоже взорвется темными предчувствиями, увидимся на темной стороне луны.
posted by kirkaracha at 9:18 AM on May 15, 2023 [1 favorite]

Все под солнцем в гармонии, но солнце затмевает луна!
posted by Quindar Beep at 12:44 PM on May 15, 2023

Quindar Beep, I cry happy tears.
posted by rrrrrrrrrt at 2:22 PM on May 15, 2023

Also William Shatner
posted by jeffburdges at 7:30 AM on May 17, 2023