Lunar Orbiter 1 — First Earthrise from the Moon

August 23, 1966

NASA’s Lunar Orbiter 1 captured the first photograph of Earth rising above the Moon’s horizon, a moment that changed how humanity saw its place in the universe. Intended primarily for scouting Apollo landing sites, the image unexpectedly revealed Earth as a small, luminous sphere suspended in darkness. This early glimpse of our planet from lunar distance foreshadowed the emotional impact of later Apollo photographs and became a symbol of Earth’s fragility and unity.

1966-08-23T16:36:23Z
NASA Image ID: L01-102; H1, H2, H3
Image courtesy: NASA

Apollo 4 — Earth View

November 9, 1967

During the uncrewed first flight of the Saturn V rocket, Apollo 4’s automated camera captured this photograph from more than 11,000 miles away. The image shows a cloud-covered Earth framed against the blackness of space, taken as the spacecraft neared the peak of its high elliptical orbit. Although the mission’s primary purpose was to test the launch vehicle, spacecraft systems, and heat shield at lunar-return speeds, this photograph demonstrated the capability of the Apollo hardware to capture high-quality images from deep space. Serving as a visual forerunner to Apollo 8’s Earthrise, it marked one of the earliest times an Apollo spacecraft returned detailed color imagery of the entire Earth from beyond low Earth orbit systems, it offered a preview of the powerful Earth imagery that would later define the Apollo program.

1967-11-09T18:06:23Z
NASA Image ID: AS04-01-0550
Image courtesy: NASA

Zond 5 — Early Earth View from the Moon’s Vicinity

September 18, 1968

The Soviet spacecraft Zond 5, the first to complete a circumlunar journey and return to Earth, captured this striking photograph of our planet from about 90,000 kilometers away. Taken with a 400 millimeter focal length film camera, the image shows a half-illuminated Earth with Africa and the Arabian Peninsula clearly visible. The mission carried the first living beings to travel around the Moon, including two Russian tortoises along with insects, seeds, and microorganisms, and returned them safely to Earth. This achievement marked a key milestone in both space biology and the history of lunar exploration.

Image courtesy: Moscow State University of Geodesy and Cartography (MIIGAiK)

Zond 6 — Early Soviet View of Earth from the Moon

November 14, 1968

The Soviet Union’s Zond 6 spacecraft, part of a program preparing for possible crewed lunar flybys, photographed Earth from lunar distance. Taken on its return trajectory after looping around the Moon, the image is among the earliest of its kind. While less celebrated than Apollo 8’s Earthrise, it demonstrated the Soviet capability to send spacecraft to and from lunar orbit, and it offered another rare view of Earth as a solitary sphere in the vastness of space.

Image courtesy: Moscow State University of Geodesy and Cartography (MIIGAiK)

Apollo 8 — Black-and-White Earthrise

December 24, 1968

During Apollo 8’s historic orbit of the Moon, this frame is one of the earliest photographs in the sequence that produced the celebrated “Earthrise” image. Captured in black and white with a Hasselblad camera, it shows Earth emerging above the Moon’s horizon as seen by humans for the first time. While later color frames became iconic, this version preserves the stark tonal contrast between the Moon’s surface and the distant Earth, documenting both a pivotal moment in exploration and the mission’s precise timing.

1968-12-24T16:38:44Z
NASA Image ID: AS08-13-2329
Image courtesy: NASA

Apollo 8 — Color Earthrise

December 24, 1968

During Apollo 8’s fourth orbit of the Moon, astronaut William Anders captured this color view of Earth rising above the lunar horizon. Taken with a Hasselblad camera and a 250 mm lens loaded with Ektachrome film, the photograph shows a cloud-covered Earth suspended above the Moon’s rugged surface. Though unplanned, it became one of the most influential images in history, inspiring environmental awareness and reshaping how people think about Earth’s fragility. Its rotated composition emphasized the drama of the rising Earth, making it a timeless emblem of planetary unity.

1968-12-24T16:39:39Z
AS08-14-2383
Image courtesy: NASA

Apollo 10 — Earthrise

May 23, 1969

During Apollo 10’s orbit of the Moon, the crew captured AS10-27-3890, showing Earth rising above the lunar horizon. The mission served as the dress rehearsal for Apollo 11, testing all phases of a landing except the touchdown itself. While not as widely recognized as Apollo 8’s Earthrise, this image carried forward the same visual message—Earth as a small, delicate world set against the blackness of space—and linked the era-defining view of Apollo 8 to the imminent first human landing on the Moon.

1969-05-23
AS10-27-3890
Image courtesy: NASA

Apollo 11 — Earth View

July 16, 1969

Shortly after Apollo 11 began its journey to the Moon, the crew captured this photograph from about 181,000 kilometers away. The nearly full Earth fills the frame, with Africa at the center, Europe and western Asia above, and swirling cloud formations across the continents and oceans. Beyond its role in documenting the first human lunar landing mission, the photograph was chosen for the Voyager Golden Record, launched aboard Voyager 1 and 2 in 1977 to carry a representation of Earth into interstellar space.

1969-07-17
AS11-36-5355
Image courtesy: NASA

Apollo 11 — Lunar Module Ascent with Earthrise

July 21, 1969

During the rendezvous phase of the Apollo 11 mission, Command Module Pilot Michael Collins captured this evocative image of the Eagle lunar module’s ascent stage from the command module, just before docking. The photograph shows the ascent stage against the lunar surface—specifically Mare Smythii—with a half‑illuminated Earth rising in the background. Taken with a Hasselblad camera and a 60 mm lens, the frame captures a powerful visual moment: the separation and return of the first humans to leave the Moon, set against the fragile blue of Earth suspended in space. The timing—shortly after the lunar surface mission—adds emotional weight, underscoring both humanity’s achievement and the profound isolation of spaceflight.

1969-07-17
AS11-44-6642
Image courtesy: NASA

Apollo 13 — View of Earth from the Lunar Module

April 17, 1970

After the oxygen tank explosion that crippled Apollo 13’s service module, this photograph shows a crescent Earth seen through the window of the Lunar Module Aquarius. At this point in the mission, the astronauts had abandoned the Command Module to use the Lunar Module as a lifeboat, facing severe limits on power, heat, and water. Captured with a Hasselblad camera, the image also reflects parts of the spacecraft’s interior, a reminder of the cramped and precarious environment. In the hours following the explosion, there was profound uncertainty over whether the crew could return safely to Earth. This photograph stands as a quiet record of that tense period—Earth distant and fragile, home hanging in the balance.

1970-04-17
AS13-63-9045
Image courtesy: NASA

Apollo 17 — The Blue Marble

December 7, 1972

While en route to the Moon, the Apollo 17 crew captured this iconic image of Earth from approximately 29,400 km away. Known as “The Blue Marble,” it appears as a fully illuminated, vibrant sphere—with Africa and the Arabian Peninsula visible in the upper reaches, Antarctica at the bottom, and swirling clouds of the Southern Hemisphere in view. Taken with a Hasselblad 70 mm camera equipped with an 80 mm Zeiss lens, this image stands out as the first high-quality, human-captured photograph showing the entire Earth in daylight. Emerging during the rise of global environmental awareness, it quickly became emblematic of planetary fragility and unity.

1972-12-07T10:39Z
AS17-148-22727
Image courtesy: NASA

Voyager 1 — The First Image of the Earth-Moon System in a Single Frame

September 18, 1977

NASA’s Voyager 1 spacecraft captured the first photograph to include both Earth and the Moon in a single frame. At the time, Voyager 1 was approximately 7.25 million miles (11.66 million kilometers) from Earth. In the image, Earth appears as a crescent with parts of eastern Asia, the western Pacific Ocean, and a portion of the Arctic visible, while the Moon is a smaller crescent positioned above and to the left of Earth.

1977-09-18
Image courtesy: NASA/JPL

Voyager 1 — Pale Blue Dot

February 14, 1990

Taken by NASA’s Voyager 1 spacecraft from a distance of about 3.7 billion miles (6 billion kilometers), on the outer edge of our solar system, this image shows Earth as a tiny speck, less than a single pixel in size, suspended in a shaft of sunlight created by lens glare. Captured in 1990 as part of the spacecraft’s celebrated “Family Portrait” series, which imaged most of the planets from Voyager 1’s vantage point, the photograph became known as the “Pale Blue Dot,” a humbling reminder of our planet’s smallness and fragility in the vastness of space.

1990-02-14
Image courtesy: NASA/JPL

Cassini’s Pale Blue Dot — Earth from Saturn’s Shadow

July 19, 2013

The Cassini spacecraft captured this rare and poetic view of Earth and its Moon peeking through the rings of Saturn from a distance of over 1.4 billion kilometers. Framed amid the darkened limb of Saturn and its bright rings—enhanced for clarity—the tiny Earth appears as a pale blue dot at center-right, with the Moon as a faint adjacent point. Cassini was uniquely positioned in Saturn’s shadow, which allowed safe imaging despite the Sun’s glare. This was only the third time Earth had been photographed from the outer Solar System—evoking Voyager 1’s iconic “Pale Blue Dot”—and marked the first time people knew in advance their planet would be captured from such a remote vantage. The image invites reflection on Earth’s fragility and our place in the cosmos.

2013-07-19
Image courtesy: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute