While ISS astronauts do a spacewalk this Christmas eve, I thought that this would be the best tribute I could make for them, and for all of my readers, contributors, and moderators.
Audio and some stunning new video follow.
![480px-NASA-Apollo8-Dec24-Earthrise[1]](http://wattsupwiththat.files.wordpress.com/2013/12/480px-nasa-apollo8-dec24-earthrise1.jpg?quality=83)
They recited:
Bill Anders
“We are now approaching lunar sunrise, and for all the people back on Earth, the crew of Apollo 8 has a message that we would like to send to you.
‘In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep.
And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.
And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.'”
Jim Lovell
“And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.
And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.
And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so.
And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day.”
Frank Borman
And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so.
And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good.’
And from the crew of Apollo 8, we close with good night, good luck, a Merry Christmas – and God bless all of you, all of you on the good Earth.”
Here is the historic audio clip of the text above:
That happened 45 years ago today, when the Apollo 8 astronauts suddenly noticed the Earth “rising” over the lunar horizon. Despite all of the planning for the mission, this event was a complete surprise, and they scrambled to load color film and get cameras ready.
NASA’s Scientific Visualization Studio has created a marvelous recreation of the event, using 3D modeling, original audio from the onboard recorder, and the actual photographs of the moment on December 24, 1968, when the astronauts on the Apollo 8 mission orbiting the moon were unexpectedly confronted with an “Earthrise” and worked together to snap some of the most viewed photography in history. This is an excerpt from the full public-domain video, narrated by the Apollo mission historian Andy Chaikin:
The full visualization is here.
In 2007, an HD camera aboard Japan’s Kaguya satellite videotaped earth ‘rising’ and ‘setting.’ Set to music by Peter Rundquist, the images bring home the lonely, extraordinary nature of this “pale blue dot.”
h/t to Andrew Revkin for that video
Discover more from Watts Up With That?
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
different explorers, but this is just breaking:
25 Dec: AAP: Sydney Morning Herald: Antarctic tourist ship trapped by sea ice
Australian explorers are stranded near Antarctica after their ship became wedged in thick sheets of sea ice.
The Spirit of Mawson voyage, which includes scientists, explorers and tourists, is trapped in Antarctic ice floes and awaiting rescue.
But with the nearest ship with ice-breaking abilities at least two days away, the crew will spend Christmas and Boxing Day stuck about 1500 nautical miles south of Hobart.
The ship had been on a multi-day tour from New Zealand to visit several sites along the edge of Antarctica…
It is not known how long the ship has been unable to break free from the ice floes…
The Australian Maritime Safety Authority received a distress call on Christmas morning, notifying the rescue co-ordination centre that the ship was trapped in ice and would need help…
http://www.smh.com.au/national/antarctic-tourist-ship-trapped-by-sea-ice-20131225-2zwjr.html
I fully expected to be an Asteroid Miner when I grew up. I find it hard to understand why we gave up a new world(s). Imagine Columbus coming back with evidence of a new world……and Isabella saying it wasn’t more important than giving more tapas away to the peasants on Christmas. Thank God for the Chinese.
“Because of the Moon’s synchronous rotation about the Earth (i.e., the same side of the Moon is always facing the Earth), no Earthrise can be observed by a stationary observer on the surface of the Moon.” Quoted from article
This is one wonderful insane world because when people can force themselves to believe the moon spins when clearly it doesn’t then forget interpreting climate !.
Not only can it be clearly seen that the moon doesn’t spin as it orbits the Earth,it can also be clearly seen where this intellectual aberration comes from – a misreading of Kepler’s Somnium by Sir Isaac where Kepler is awkward in his phrasing of the moon’s orbital motion –
http://books.google.ie/books?id=OdCJAS0eQ64C&pg=PA80&lpg#v=onepage&q&f=false
“The Sun and the Earth rotate on their own axes…The purpose of this motion is to confer motion on the planets located around them;on the six primary planets in the case of the Sun,and on the moon in the case of the Earth.On the other hand the moon does not rotate on the axis of its own body,as its spots prove ” Kepler
For goodness sake give the world a magnificent Christmas present this year and deal decisively with this issue because if you can’t get rid of the mindnumbing idea that the moon spins as it orbits the Earth then what can be said of getting rid of the notion that humans can control the Earth’s temperature.
Thank you – a wonderful clip to wake up and find on Christmas morning.
And thanks to everyone who worked to make it, especially the guys in the tin can for their input.
Thanks for the memories Anthony. I watched that live as a kid and just now shared it with my two boys. All the very best for you and all you family.
“Because of the Moon’s synchronous rotation about the Earth (i.e., the same side of the Moon is always facing the Earth), no Earthrise can be observed by a stationary observer on the surface of the Moon.”
Not true. Due to libration, there is a considerable amount of lunar real estate (on or near the boundary between the mean near and far side hemispheres) from which a stationary observer could observe Earthrise/Earthset.
Given the state of manned space exploration today, I’m grateful I’m just old enough to remember the Apollo program (and parts of Gemini).
Gerald Kelleher:
The moon does, in fact, spin as it orbits the Earth. It just happens to spin at the same speed as its orbit (and by “just happens to” I don’t mean it’s a random thing). The phrases “synchronous rotation” and “tidal lock” are interchangeable.
But we all know what you meant 🙂
Merry Christmas to all!
They should have read it in the original Hebrew to avoid translation errors.
Fantastic posting Anthony, I remember it well (I was 13 at the time!). Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Merry Christmas to Anthony, the Mods and all the regular contributors who make this the go to site for so many people.
And someone complained about it, so when the Apollo 11 crew held a communion service after the first moon walk it was not broadcast so as not to “offend”.
Will be off with my wife soon to do the same but in our church.
God bless you all from a wet and wind swept Blighty
James Bull
What a coincidence. Just yesterday I was looking at WW2 and Omaha beach. At the bottom of the page I was linked to Iconic Photos from the 1960s by a news outlet. The landing page had nothing to do with Earth Rise photo. 4 or 5 photos later I came onto Earth Rise. Just sharing.
http://all-that-is-interesting.com/iconic-photos-1960s/4
I heard that broadcast on the Dutch radio reporting on the mission (in real time). The comment of the reporter was something like “that was the best Christmas message I have ever heard”.
Curiously, the radio station almost immediately received complaints from some ultra religious people who thought that the use of Genisis was “inappropriate”, bordering in the sacriligous.
The comments of that same reporter (later in the program) on these complaints: “they are about the worst listeners I’ve ever heard of”.
Merry Xmas Anthony and all your helpers and families.
Nadolig Llawen from South Wales.
CodeTech says:
December 25, 2013 at 1:47 am
Gerald Kelleher:
The moon does, in fact, spin as it orbits the Earth. It just happens to spin at the same speed as its orbit (and by “just happens to” I don’t mean it’s a random thing). The phrases “synchronous rotation” and “tidal lock” are interchangeable.
But we all know what you meant 🙂
Merry Christmas to all!
# Garethman. The mon does not actually spin or rotate on it’s own axis, it’s can’t if it keeps the same face to the earth. Imagine a small ball orbiting around a larger ball. Now connect the two with a piece of string. The small ball can still orbit the large ball, but it cannot rotator spin otherwise it would wind the string up. ( I know the earth could theoretically wind the string up due to it’s rotation, but this is related to the moon) Essentially the string is tidal and gravitational forces. So the answer is, the moon orbits, but it does not rotate or spin on it’s axis in the same way as the earth any more than the outer edge of an LP can rotate independently of the centre. Nadoleg LLawen i Pawb! Merry Christmas to all!
Those astronauts were like little kids, weren’t they? Flapping around panicking trying to get the shot, and then Anders just laconically remarks, “it’ll come up again, I think.”
I loved the reading. It was heartfelt, and you could tell how in awe the crew were at their surroundings, and the only way to express it was through God.
The series From the Earth to the Moon captures that beautifully, too.
Nice, Anthony – Thank you, and Merry Christmas to all!
May you and yours enjoy the holidays, Anthony…and all who visit here at WUWT.
Cheers!
A very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to Anthony, the mods, and all the contributors to this great site.
CodeTech
If you really want to get a sense of how the guys who believe humans have control of the planet’s temperature via fossil fuels then check how you feel about this issue where people force themselves to believe the moon spins when clearly it doesn’t as it orbits the Earth.The first great observational report on the moon using a telescope is,of course,Galileo’s ‘Starry Messenger’ where he discusses the moon’s orbital motion at length and how it appears to us –
http://archive.org/stream/siderealmessenge80gali#page/16/mode/2up
Be mindful that he also discuss what happens when men get ridiculous notions in their heads even when common sense should intervene –
” I have heard such things put forth as I should blush to repeat–not so much to avoid discrediting their authors (whose names could always be withheld) as to refrain from detracting so greatly from the honor of the human race. In the long run my observations have convinced me that some men, reasoning preposterously, first establish some conclusion In their minds which, either because of its being their own or because of their having received it from some person who has their entire
confidence, impresses them so deeply that one finds it impossible ever to get it out of their heads. Such arguments in support of their fixed idea as they hit upon themselves or hear set forth by others, no matter how simple and stupid these may be, gain their instant acceptance and applause. On the other hand whatever is brought forward against it, however ingenious and conclusive, they receive withdisdain or with hot rage–if indeed it does not make them ill. ”
Galileo
Common logic determines that if the moon turned a half a turn for each orbital circuit of the Earth we would see all sides over a 2 month period while if it turned twice a circuit we would see all sides twice over one lunar monthly circuit.
Libration is a lunar orbital trait so at the extreme edges of the same side of the moon we constantly see,the Earth would rise and set on the same horizon and not cross the sky as a rotating Earth does so no,this misuse of libration to force through the idea of rotation is a symptom of a troubled mind,nothing more or less. The gift this Christmas is to at least get rid of that late 17th century nonsense and be seen to do it,maybe then there will be a chance to correct a lot of other material including climate topics.
Gerald, isn’t it magnificent that Dorian provided you an example immediately following your comment.
Here is a question for all to consider….
Why are there no photos of the Earth from the Moon surface?
You’d think after thousands of years of looking at the Moon from the Earth, that when finally Man stands on the surface of the Moon the first thing any astronaunt would do, is take a photo of Mother Earth…no?
That photo you show above is only from an automated probe going to the Moon. Where are the photos of the Earth from the Moon?
Afterall, from the surface of the Moon, the Earth would look about four times larger as that of the Moon seen on the Earth. It would be very spectacular, considering there would also be no atmosphere too, just black sky. And much of the time the Sun would be in opposition, that is, the Earth would be between the Moon and the Sun, it would make it perfectly large, clear and beautiful.
BUT NO. THERE ARE NO PHOTOS OF THE EARTH FROM THE LUNAR SURFACE.
WHY?
Oh…before you point out that single ridiculous photo of the Earth in the back drop of the lunar lander (the only supposedly photo of the Earth), take a very close look at where the Earth is, the Moon does not rotate on its axis with respect to the Earth, thus it is always facing the same way, that photo shows the Earth as if it rising, and that can not be, the Earth must be straight up. Use common sense. The Earth can never rise or set on the Moon.
So where are the photos? After the greatest adventure of Mankind, it seems EVERY SINGLE ASTRONAUNT forgot to take a photo of the Earth FROM THE MOON’S LUNAR SURFACE.
Now isn’t that interesting.
Can I wish everyone a Happy Xmas and hope you all have a wonderful New Year.
This is a special Christmas for me. My wife of 47+ years died a couple of weeks ago. For 18 months she suffered a long painful struggle with cancer. It was a horrible, messy, undignified fight and death with infinite pain and agony. There was nothing peaceful and about it and I took care of her to the end when she died in our bed under home hospice with me giving her morphine every couple of hours for ten days without sleep. Now our 48th Christmas is with her ashes in an urn on the fireplace mantle.
My spirit is like the chaos before the Creation and it feels like my essence is leaking out of my very pores. Yet, the birth of the Christ Child is like the first light that touches me and I feel tendrils of structure starting to reform within me. I remember decades of worship with her beside me and her joy and laughter over the years. It took Christmas morning that started before dawn for me to start to feel again and I had to share with someone. Merry Christmas.
С Рождеством Христовым!
メリークリスマス
The Moon rotates or not depending on the chosen frame of reference.