NASA's historic 'Pale Blue Dot' image gets a makeover on 30th anniversary

On the occasion of the 'Pale Blue Dot' anniversary, NASA shared an updated version of the image that was clicked by the Voyager 1 on February 1990. According to reports, to celebrate three decades of the iconic moment, an engineer at NASA's jet propulsion Laboratory, Kevin Gill used an imaging processor to create a digitally updated version of the picture.

'Pale Blue Dot' digitally republished to celebrate anniversary

A statement by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory read, "For the 30th anniversary of one of the most iconic images taken by NASA's Voyager mission, a new version of the image known as "the Pale Blue Dot. Planet Earth is visible as a bright speck within the sunbeam just right of centre and appears softly blue, as in the original version published in 1990".

The statement further read, "This updated version uses modern image-processing software and techniques to revisit the well-known Voyager view while attempting to respect the original data and intent of those who planned the images. In 1990, the Voyager project planned to shut off the Voyager 1 spacecraft's imaging cameras to conserve power and because the probe, along with its sibling Voyager 2, would not fly close enough to any other objects to take pictures."

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"Family Portrait of the Solar System"

In a statement, NASA's jet propulsion laboratory said, "Before the shutdown, the mission commanded the probe to take a series of 60 images designed to produce what they termed the "Family Portrait of the Solar System. Executed on Valentine's Day 1990, this sequence returned images for making colour views of six of the solar system's planets and also imaged the Sun in monochrome. The image of Earth was originally published by NASA in 1990. It is republished here to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the Family Portrait of the Solar System and the Pale Blue Dot image in particular."

According to NASA, 34 minutes after the NASA mission took-off, the spacecraft powered down the camera so the probe could conserve power. According to reports, Voyager 1 captured an average of 60 images featuring five additional planets and the sun when the image sequencing was underway.

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