Mosaic of different ERS-2 results. Like its predecessor ERS-1 (launched in July 1991 by an Ariane 40 and successfully operational in-orbit at an altitude of some 780 Km), the ERS-2 satellite launched on 21.04.95 by a Ariane 40, is monitoring the Earth day and night under all weather conditions thanks to its powerful sharp-eyed, clouds piercing radars. ERS-2 is moreover carrying an instrument which helps monitor the ozone layer around the Earth. Photo: ESA.

“well it’s not on the flight plan”

Apollo Astronaut Shares Story of NASA’s Earthrise Photo

Anders said after the first two-and-a-half to three orbits, they were going backwards, head down, marveling at the lunar surface, and it wasn’t until after they had made a, “collective maneuver to circularize our orbit at 60 nautical miles, that we rolled over, heads up and turned around, going forward, like you would be driving a car around the moon.”

The crew was in sunlight and Anders was shooting pictures out of the side of the spacecraft, as this was one of his designated jobs.

“I don’t know who said it, maybe all of us said, ‘Oh my God. Look at that!’”Anders said. “And up came the Earth. We had had no discussion on the ground, no briefing, no instructions on what to do. I jokingly said, ‘well it’s not on the flight plan,’ and the other two guys were yelling at me to give them cameras. I had the only color camera with a long lens. So I floated a black and white over to Borman. I can’t remember what Lovell got. There were all yelling for cameras, and we started snapping away.”

The morning sun reflects on the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean as seen from the Apollo 7 spacecraft at an altitude of 120 nautical miles above Earth. Most of Florida peninsula appears as a dark silhouette. This photograph was made during the spacecraft’s 134th revolution of Earth, some 213 hours and 19 minutes after liftoff. 20 Oct, 1968.

Photo: NASA.

Elliott Dold: Science fiction interior pulp illustration, c1940.

Втopoй  космический  коpaбль - cпутник “Восток-2” c Г. С. Титовым. 6.VIII.1961.

Gherman Titov, the 2nd soviet cosmonaut orbiting the Earth on board Vostok 2, the second spaceship, 6 August 1961. Soviet matchbox label, 1962.

Zemlja. Yugoslavian matchbox label, space exploration, 1/10. c1960.

Well, I would like to wish a happy new year to all of you with this stunning crescent Earth over desert Moon photograph.

Apollo 15 onboard photo: Earth’s crest over the Lunar horizon. July 26, 1971.

This view of the Earth’s crest over the lunar horizon was taken during the Apollo 15 lunar landing mission. Apollo 15 launched from the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) on July 26, 1971 via a Saturn V launch vehicle. Aboard was a crew of three astronauts including David R. Scott, Mission Commander; James B. Irwin, Lunar Module Pilot; and Alfred M. Worden, Command Module Pilot. The first mission designed to explore the Moon over longer periods, greater ranges and with more instruments for the collection of scientific data than on previous missions, the mission included the introduction of a $40,000,000 lunar roving vehicle (LRV) that reached a top speed of 16 kph (10 mph) across the Moon’s surface. The successful Apollo 15 lunar landing mission was the first in a series of three advanced missions planned for the Apollo program. The primary scientific objectives were to observe the lunar surface, survey and sample material and surface features in a preselected area of the Hadley-Apennine region, setup and activation of surface experiments and conduct in-flight experiments and photographic tasks from lunar orbit. Apollo 15 televised the first lunar liftoff and recorded a walk in deep space by Alfred Worden. Both the Saturn V rocket and the LRV were developed at the Marshall Space Flight Center.

source: NASA