On This Date (or thereabouts)

On this date in 1968, Apollo 8 launched.

Last year, we posted five photos in celebration of Apollo 8. See those HERE.

In Generation Space: A Love Story, we write:

Fifty-five hours into the mission, the crew broadcast images of Earth from space. Anders remarked, “We came all this way to explore the Moon, and the most important thing is that we discovered the Earth.” For the first time, a person took a photograph of Earth in its entirety, half illuminated by the Sun. His way of seeing—of being—changed in a split-second by that new glimpse. People saw Earth from a distance, through a human eye, and really saw it as a planet for the first time. From that distance, Earth was small enough to fit inside the frame, and that was humbling.

 

Shortly after their broadcast, these three men became the first people to experience the gravitational pull of another celestial body. The spacecraft had traveled far enough that the Moon’s gravity had a greater effect on it than Earth’s did. The three astronauts were weightless and free falling, and they were falling toward the Moon.

You can pre-order Generation Space from Stillhouse Press now. Pre-orders include a free tote bag, and use the secret code PRESALE_LOVE for $1 off if you order by December 31. Check it out HERE.

To share your memory, story, or dream of the Space Age, see the new Generation Space website and our I Am Generation Space project at www.generationspace.com.