Postcard - Earthrise over the Moon from Apollo 8

Postcard

 

• Picture / Image:  Untitled postcard but image but shows the famous 'Earthrise' photo, taken on return from orbit round the far side of the moon
• Publisher:  none given
• Postally used:  yes
• Stamp:  2nd class turquoise Machin
• Postmark(s):  Exeter 2003
• Sent to:  Hayes (competition entry)
• Notes & Key words: 

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Postage & Packing:

UK (incl. IOM, CI & BFPO): 99p

Europe: £1.60

Rest of world (inc. USA etc): £2.75

No additional charges for more than one postcard. You can buy as many postcards from me as you like and you will just pay the fee above once. (If buying postcards with other things such as books, please contact or wait for invoice before paying).

Payment Methods:

UK - PayPal, Cheque (from UK bank) or postal order

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NOTE: All postcards are sent in brand new stiffened envelopes which I have bought for the task. These are specially made to protect postcards and you may be able to re-use them. In addition there are other costs to sending so the above charge is not just for the stamp!

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Text from the free encyclopedia WIKIPEDIA may appear below to give a little background information:

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Earthrise is the name given to a photograph of the Earth taken by astronaut William Anders in 1968 during the Apollo 8 mission. In Life's 100 Photographs that Changed the World, wilderness photographer Galen Rowell called it "the most influential environmental photograph ever taken."^[1]

Earthrise is the name given to NASA image AS8-14-2383, taken by astronaut William Anders during the historic Apollo 8 mission, the first manned voyage to orbit the Moon.^[2][3][4]

Initially, before Anders found a suitable 70mm color film, mission commander Frank Borman took a black and white photo^[5] of the scene, with the Earth's terminator touching the horizon. The land mass position and cloud patterns in this image are the same as those of the color Earthrise photo. ^[6]

The photograph was taken from lunar orbit on December 24, 1968 with a Hasselblad camera. An audio recording of the event is available^[7] with transcription^[8] which allows the event to be followed closely – excerpt:

Borman: Oh my God! Look at that picture over there! Here's the Earth coming up. Wow, is that pretty.
Anders: Hey, don't take that, it's not scheduled.
Borman: (laughing) You got a color film, Jim?
Anders: Hand me that roll of color quick, will you...

The TV miniseries From the Earth to the Moon, drawing upon the book A Man on the Moon by Andrew Chaikin, has Borman uttering the "it's not scheduled" remark (in part four, "1968", at 41' 57"). However, the PBS attribution to Anders is clear from the sound recordings. In fact, had Borman as mission commander said such a thing, the color photograph would never have been made.

There were many images taken at that point. The mission audio tape establishes several photographs were taken, on Borman's orders, with the enthusiastic concurrence of Lovell and Anders. Anders took the first color shot, then Lovell who notes the setting (1/250th of a second at f/11), followed by Anders with another two at varying exposures.

The picture attested by Frank Borman is in nearly the same place with respect to the horizon as the one usually credited to Anders, but was probably taken on a different orbit - the cloud patterns are significantly different to the color Earthrise.

A nearly full-page black and white reproduction of Borman's image may be viewed on page 164 of his 1988 autobiography, captioned: "One of the most famous pictures in photographic history - taken after I grabbed the camera away from Bill Anders". Borman was the mission commander and notes^[9] (pg 212) that this is the image "the Postal Service used on a stamp, and few photographs have been more frequently reproduced" - but see above.

The stamp issue reproduces the cloud, colour and crater patterns of the Anders picture. Anders is described (pg. 193) by Borman as holding "a Masters degree in nuclear engineering"; Anders was thus tasked as "the scientific crew member ... also performing the photography duties that would be so important to the Apollo crew who actually landed on the moon".

Although the photograph is usually reproduced with the lunar surface at the bottom of the picture, it was actually taken with the Earth on the left and the lunar surface at the right of the frame.^[10]

The earthrise that could be witnessed from the surface of the Moon is quite unlike sunrises on Earth. Because the Moon is tidally locked with the Earth, one side of the Moon always faces toward Earth. Interpretation of this fact would lead one to believe that the Earth's position is fixed on the lunar sky and no earthrises can occur. However, the Moon librates slightly, which causes the Earth to draw a Lissajous figure on the sky. This figure fits inside a rectangle 15°48' wide and 13°20' high (in angular dimensions), while the angular diameter of the Earth as seen from Moon is only about 2°. This means that earthrises are visible near the edge of the Earth-observable surface of the Moon (about 20 % of the surface). Since a full libration cycle takes about 27 days, earthrises are very slow, and it takes about 48 hours for Earth to clear its diameter.^[11] During the course of the month-long lunar orbit, an observer would additionally witness a succession of "Earth phases", much like the lunar phases seen from Earth. That is what accounts for the half-illuminated globe seen in the photograph.