Really cool photo of the Earth rising above our Moon’s horizon. This is one of the greatest photos of all time.

Location, Location, Location

Photographed by Apollo 8 astronauts, this proves that placement is a very important factor in photography. All the training and fancy camera equipment in the world will never get you this photo if you’re not in the right place at the right time.

Click the photo to enlarge.

Listen to the famous Apollo 8 Genesis reading, December 24, 1968. NASA astronauts William Anders, Jim Lovell, and Frank Borman proved that science and religion are not mutually exclusive by reading from the Bible as they orbited the Moon—the first humans to ever do so (orbit the Moon, that is). I suggest listening to the audio clip at the same time as you are looking at the full-sized picture for full effect. Use your scrollbars, if you have to, if the picture’s too big for your screen. Awesome!

These guys sure chose the right broadcast to make that day. Easy to agree with their choice of reading material and their message when we can see what they were seeing—the first humans to ever see this particular view of the Earth. Only 24 humans have ever been this far from home, and these guys were the first.

Transcript:

“We are now approaching lunar sunrise and, for all the people back on Earth, the crew of Apollo 8 has a message that we would like to send to you.

“In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep.
And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.
And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.”
                                                                                                    – William Anders


“And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.
And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.
And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so.
And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day.”
                                                                                                    – Jim Lovell


“And God said, Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so.
And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good.

“And from the crew of Apollo 8, we close with good night, good luck, a Merry Christmas – and God bless all of you, all of you on the good Earth.”
                                                                                                    – Frank Borman