Dr Robert Poole's new book 'Earthrise' investigates iconic picture taken on Apollo 8 mission
The first photograph of the Earth taken from space by an astronaut is the subject of a new book by University of Cumbria history lecturer Dr Robert Poole, published in the UK and US this September.
‘Earthrise – How Man First Saw The Earth’ tells the story of the iconic Earthrise photograph taken at Christmas 1968, of the astronauts who took it, and of the long lasting impact that seeing the Earth in colour for the first time had on the world. The image has been credited with kick-starting the environmental movement, which was relatively small in the 60s but today involves millions of people across the world and is a defining phenomenon of modern times. This year is the 40th anniversary of the picture.
The photograph of the Earth rising from behind the Moon was taken by astronaut Bill Anders on the Apollo 8 mission. He was part of a three man crew with Frank Borman and James Lovell (who later became well known for the ill-fated Apollo 13 mission). On that mission, the three astronauts became the first people to leave Earth orbit, the first to set eyes on the whole Earth and the first to see the dark side of the Moon. Taking a picture of the Earth from space was never part of the plan; the crew had not expected to see the Earthrise and quickly took some pictures to capture the moment.
It was to have a powerful effect on many people around the world. Robert explains:
“The most important thing about the space programme was not that mankind first set foot on the moon but that mankind first set eye on the Earth. Bill Anders said that although they had gone all the way to the moon, the most significant thing they’d seen was the home planet. The blue of the Earth was the only colour in space, and people seeing the photo could see how alive the Earth was in the immense deadness of space. Many people got a sense of the uniqueness, smallness and fragility of the Earth for the first time.”
‘Earthrise’ takes that photograph as a starting point and takes an all-encompassing approach. Robert says:
“The book is in different ways a history of photography, a history of space, a history of the environmental movement, and a history of the Cold War but it all centres around this one amazing picture. I wanted to find out everything about the picture. For example, I’d heard that the Earth rising had taken the astronauts by surprise, which seemed like an extraordinary thing given what an expensive well planned programme it had been and how important it turned out to be.”
Robert has long been fascinated with space and is an environmentalist, which both informed the book, as did his experience as a historian. He was granted access to the NASA historical archives while researching the book and also made contact with Dick Underwood, who was director of photography at NASA at the time and taught every astronaut from the Apollo missions onwards how to take photographs in space. Although there had been no plans to take photographs of the Earth in the Apollo 8 missions, Dick had ensured the astronauts knew how to use the cameras so they were able to react quickly when the unexpected opportunity presented itself.
“He’s one of the great unsung heroes; he is the man who photographed the Earth even though he wasn’t actually behind the camera.”
Robert was even able to get messages to Apollo 8 astronauts Jim Lovell and Frank Borman, who were very supportive of his book and told him how the Earthrise had been completely unexpected.
The book has already won plaudits in the environmental and space travel fields. The renowned environmental campaigner Sir Jonathan Porritt is a fan of the book, saying:
“The extraordinary photos of the Earth taken from Apollo 8 had a deep and lasting effect on many environmentalists – including me. Earthrise contextualises and reflects on a unique photographic record in a quite compelling and inspiring way.”
Prof Howard McGurdy, an expert on NASA and author of ‘Space and the American Imagination’ described the book as “an expertly researched and elegantly written cultural history of the space age”. Robert hopes that the book can help readers relive the sense of wonder that people first felt at seeing the Earthrise photograph.
“I hope the book will make fresh the impact of that first sight of the Earth – to take them back to what it was like and how it struck people at the time. We are now very used to seeing images of the Earth everywhere and we’ve got a bit blasé about it. But 40 years ago, within many people’s lifetime, we first saw the Earth and that’s an amazing thing. I think it deserves its own history.”
Robert will be talking about ‘Earthrise’ at the Dukes Playhouse in Lancaster at 8pm on Thursday 9 October, as part of a panel at the One Planet Festival. To find out more about the festival, visit the website at www.oneplanetfestival.com|.
‘Earthrise – How Man First Saw The Earth’ is published in the UK and the US by Yale University Press. To find out more, visit the book website at www.earthrise.org.uk|
Earthrise was named book of the week by the Times Higher Education Supplement and you can read their review of the book by clicking here|