In honor of Earth Day, here are our favorite images of the planet from space
The Nile River and its delta look like a
brilliant, long-stemmed flower in this photograph of the southeastern
Mediterranean Sea, as seen from the International Space Station. You can
also see the airglow, a band of light surrounding the planet that comes
from the interaction of the atmosphere with solar radiation. (NASA)
Apollo 8, the first manned mission to the moon,
entered lunar orbit on Christmas Eve, Dec. 24, 1968. That evening, the
astronauts--Commander Frank Borman, Command Module Pilot Jim Lovell, and
Lunar Module Pilot William Anders--held a live broadcast from lunar
orbit, in which they showed pictures of the Earth and moon as seen from
their spacecraft. Said Lovell, "The vast loneliness is awe-inspiring and
it makes you realize just what you have back there on Earth." (NASA)
This picture of the Earth and Moon in a single
frame was taken by the Galileo spacecraft from about 3.9 million miles
away. Antarctica is visible through clouds (bottom). The Moon's far side
is seen; the shadowy indentation in the dawn terminator is the south
pole Aitken Basin, one of the largest and oldest lunar impact features.
(NASA)
The Space Shuttle Endeavour's robotic arm
hovers over Earth's horizon, backdropped by a starburst from the Sun.
This photo was taken during the STS-77 shuttle mission in 1996. (NASA)
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