'Blue Marble' turns 50, NASA shares beautiful picture of Earth clicked in 1972

We tend to forget the marvels of the planet we call home until we see it from the lens of those who travel beyond the skies to capture it. On Wednesday, one of NASA’s legendary photographs titled “Blue Marble” completed 50 years in its full glory. Paying an ode to the marvelous photograph, NASA shared the picture to mark the historic event. The photograph called “Blue Marble” was ed by the crew of Apollo 17, 50 years ago. “Blue Marble” is a picture of the earth, where the continent of Africa and the island of Madagascar can be visible from outer space, with clouds swirling around the region of Antarctica.  

Sharing the historic picture NASA wrote on Instagram, “On Dec. 7, 1972—50 years ago today—the crew of Apollo 17 took this photo of Earth as they journeyed to the Moon. Known today as the "Blue Marble", this picture has since become one of the most iconic images of our home world.” Apollo 17 was the last mission to put humans on Moon. However, the Armetis project is expected to repeat history soon. On Monday, the Orion spacecraft which is expected to land on December 11, snapped a picture of Earth when it flew “directly behind the Moon.” NASA took to Twitter to share what the spacecraft captured. 

History behind ‘Blue Marble’ 

Apollo 17, lifted off from NASA Kennedy space center in 1972, comprised of Mission Commander Eugene Cernan, Lunar Module Pilot Harrison Schmitt, and command module pilot Ronald Evans. It was Harrison Schmitt who ed the beautiful picture with his Hasselblad camera, hours after the takeoff. Schmitt’s camera did not have a viewfinder, therefore he had no idea about the marvelous picture managed to . 

Recalling the incident Schmitt said, “I was taking a broad series of photographs to document the weather patterns.”  Raising hopes for the new mission, NASA wrote in its Instagram post “Apollo 17 was the last mission to land humans on the Moon—but our next one is coming soon! Artemis I, our flight test of the systems that will send astronauts to lunar orbit, is scheduled to splash down in the Pacific Ocean on Sunday, Dec. 11. After another test flight around the Moon with astronauts aboard, our Artemis III mission will land humans on the lunar surface for the first time in five decades—and this time around, we're building a presence to stay."