Comments on: Earth from space–thinking outside the box http://neoneocon.com/2005/02/17/earth-from-space-thinking-outside-box/ Tue, 06 Jan 2009 21:07:39 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.1 By: neo-neocon http://neoneocon.com/2005/02/17/earth-from-space-thinking-outside-box/#comment-42 neo-neocon Sat, 03 Mar 2007 07:00:00 +0000 http://neoneocon.com/2005/02/17/earth-from-space-thinking-outside-box/#comment-42 Thanks, Armitaj, for the addendum. I didn't know that. I was having trouble locating much information online. My guess, though, is that those Bonestell paintings had so few clouds that the whole-earth photos from Apollo still came to most viewers as a stunning revelation. I know they did to me. Thanks, Armitaj, for the addendum. I didn’t know that. I was having trouble locating much information online. My guess, though, is that those Bonestell paintings had so few clouds that the whole-earth photos from Apollo still came to most viewers as a stunning revelation. I know they did to me.

]]> By: Armitaj http://neoneocon.com/2005/02/17/earth-from-space-thinking-outside-box/#comment-43 Armitaj Sat, 03 Mar 2007 07:00:00 +0000 http://neoneocon.com/2005/02/17/earth-from-space-thinking-outside-box/#comment-43 Almost all manned spaceflights, including right now with the ISS, take place within a very few hundred miles of the earth. Before Apollo 8, the highest a manned spacecraft had got was 850 miles, on Gemini 11. The Apollo 8 crew were the first people to see earth from any distance (240,000 miles) and so the first to see it as a sphere. But everyone would have seen and photographed plenty of clouds through the 60s.<br /><br />Pre-spaceflight paintings weren't entirely cloudless. Chesley Bonestell (1888-1986) painted lots of space pictures in the 40s and 50s for Life and Colliers, including some of earth with a few clouds.<br /><br />www.nasm.si.edu/exhibitions/cchoice/lm2/images/bonestell2.htm<br /><br />www.bonestell.com/the_chesley_bonestell_archives011.htm<br /><br />www.bonestell.com/the_chesley_bonestell_archives020.htm<br /><br />The first pic of earth from the moon was from an unmanned probe in 1966 and not top quality:<br /><br />http://www.centennialofflight.gov/essay/SPACEFLIGHT/US_moon/SP28G4.htm<br /><br />Apart from the quality of the pictures, the excitement of Apollo 8 and 11 and so on was knowing that real people were there holding the cameras in their hands. Almost all manned spaceflights, including right now with the ISS, take place within a very few hundred miles of the earth. Before Apollo 8, the highest a manned spacecraft had got was 850 miles, on Gemini 11. The Apollo 8 crew were the first people to see earth from any distance (240,000 miles) and so the first to see it as a sphere. But everyone would have seen and photographed plenty of clouds through the 60s.

Pre-spaceflight paintings weren’t entirely cloudless. Chesley Bonestell (1888-1986) painted lots of space pictures in the 40s and 50s for Life and Colliers, including some of earth with a few clouds.

www.nasm.si.edu/exhibitions/cchoice/lm2/images/bonestell2.htm

www.bonestell.com/the_chesley_bonestell_archives011.htm

www.bonestell.com/the_chesley_bonestell_archives020.htm

The first pic of earth from the moon was from an unmanned probe in 1966 and not top quality:

http://www.centennialofflight.gov/essay/SPACEFLIGHT/US_moon/SP28G4.htm

Apart from the quality of the pictures, the excitement of Apollo 8 and 11 and so on was knowing that real people were there holding the cameras in their hands.

]]> By: neo-neocon http://neoneocon.com/2005/02/17/earth-from-space-thinking-outside-box/#comment-44 neo-neocon Sat, 03 Mar 2007 07:00:00 +0000 http://neoneocon.com/2005/02/17/earth-from-space-thinking-outside-box/#comment-44 I actually did some online research before I wrote the post, to try to jog my memory. Actually, apparently I got the date somewhat wrong, but only by a hair. The first "big blue marble" photos seem to have been taken from Apollo 8 in December of 1968, not 1969. At any rate, they were indeed the first of their kind. Earlier missions either didn't go high enough (their orbits were actually rather low, as I recall), or didn't have the right equipment. I don't know the details as to exactly why, but the first flights did not feature the whole earth color photos with high resolution that only became available with the Apollo missions, and stunned and awed the world. See this website: http://www.lpi.usra.edu/expmoon/Apollo8/A08_Photography.html I actually did some online research before I wrote the post, to try to jog my memory. Actually, apparently I got the date somewhat wrong, but only by a hair. The first “big blue marble” photos seem to have been taken from Apollo 8 in December of 1968, not 1969. At any rate, they were indeed the first of their kind. Earlier missions either didn’t go high enough (their orbits were actually rather low, as I recall), or didn’t have the right equipment. I don’t know the details as to exactly why, but the first flights did not feature the whole earth color photos with high resolution that only became available with the Apollo missions, and stunned and awed the world. See this website: http://www.lpi.usra.edu/expmoon/Apollo8/A08_Photography.html

]]> By: Alex http://neoneocon.com/2005/02/17/earth-from-space-thinking-outside-box/#comment-45 Alex Sat, 03 Mar 2007 07:00:00 +0000 http://neoneocon.com/2005/02/17/earth-from-space-thinking-outside-box/#comment-45 Not to be a stickler, but didn't they have Earth photos before the moon shot? Maybe not whole-Earth photos, but enough to see the clouds? Alan Shepard made it into space back in 1961, and before that there must have been probes and satellites capable of taking photos. Either way, your main point stands. Not to be a stickler, but didn’t they have Earth photos before the moon shot? Maybe not whole-Earth photos, but enough to see the clouds? Alan Shepard made it into space back in 1961, and before that there must have been probes and satellites capable of taking photos. Either way, your main point stands.

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