159. [Apollo 8] THE HISTORIC FIRST PHOTOGRAPH BEYOND EARTH ORBIT TAKEN BY HUMANS William Anders, 21-27 December 1968 Printed 1968. Vintage chromogenic print on fibre-based Kodak paper [NASA image AS8-14-2581]. Numbered "NASA AS8-14-2581" in red in the top margin, with NASA caption and "A Kodak Paper" watermark on the reverse (issued by NASA Manned Spacecraft Centre, Houston, Texas). 20.3 x 25.4 cm. (8 x 10 in.) Historical context A milestone in history: the moment humanity truly left Earth for the first time, captured by the Apollo 8 crew. After orbiting Earth twice, the astronauts fired the Saturn V's third stage, becoming the first humans to break free from Earth's gravitational pull. This historic photograph, taken by William Anders with an 80mm lens after separating from the expended S-IVB stage following translunar injection, is the first image captured by humans beyond Earth orbit—revealing a vast expanse of the Atlantic Ocean, Florida and the turquoise Bahamas. [National Geographic caption for the photograph] Already farther out in space than man has ever flown, Apollo 8's crew at 3,500 miles gaze down on the shallow Bahama Banks (bottom of picture), turquoise against the darker, deeper Atlantic. Few clouds veil the southeastern coast of the United States and the West Indies (left of picture), but to the northeast a huge storm system swirls over the ocean. The spacecraft has now kicked out of Earth orbit toward the Moon. (National Geographic, May 1969, p. 609) "This particular spot, the Bahamas lowland, was a turquoise jewel that you could see all the way to the Moon. It was like it was illuminated, like a piece of opal. And you could see that all the way. And I kept being amazed about that." William Anders (Chaikin, Voices, p. 26) Literature NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC, May 1969, pp. 608-609 LIFE, 10 January 1969, p. 25 TIME, 10 January 1969, p. 42 The View from Space: American Astronaut Photography, 1962–1972, Schick and Van Haaften, p. 93