in both Time and Life magazines two of the biggest publications tracking the progress of 1960s space exploration Upon the astronauts return the crew brought a framed print of Earthrise to President Lyndon B Johnson Newspaper editorials reflected upon the photo’s connections to religion international conflict and humanity’s place in the universe The picture showing Earth as a small fragile and uniquely habitable corner of the universe became a potent symbol of the environmental movement Decades later Vice President Al Gore’s Oscar-winning documentary about climate change An Inconvenient Truth used Earthrise as one of its central images RICHARD UNDERWOOD 1927 2011 Richard Underwood who led the team that modified cameras and trained astronauts for the Apollo Program began his government career in the US Navy during World War II 1939 1945 After the war he volunteered as an observer and photographer for atomic bomb tests He went on to study aerial photography and worked for the US Army Corps of Engineers He joined NASA in the early 1960s and he quickly put his talents to work interfacing between the astronauts and NASA’s photo labs Photographing the Frontiers of Space The continued resonance of Earthrise decades after it was taken in orbit around the moon speaks to the power of space photography Since its founding in 1958 the National Aeronautics and Space Administration NASA has documented its missions and gathered
engineering data using cameras These photographs have also served the twin goals of scientific discovery and public outreach Scientists can study space photographs to learn more about planetary geology the clouds of the gas giants the nature of stars and galaxies and humanity’s influence on Earth The public can see these images to appreciate the ingenuity of engineers the daring of astronauts and the beauty of the universe Taking photographs in space presents unique challenges High radiation levels extremely high and low temperatures and the vacuum of space demand careful engineering in the camera hardware For human missions camera mechanisms must be designed so an astronaut in a bulky pressure suit can accurately aim and shoot And after photos are taken they must sometimes be transmitted millions of miles back to Earth The development of digital camera technology was spurred by this need for easily transmitted photos The history of NASA itself can be traced through the agency’s most significant images In the 1960s astronauts brought cameras to the surface of the moon In the 1970s robotic probes sent back photographs from Earth’s neighbors in the solar system The focus turned to Earth itself as the space shuttle gave astronauts an incredible viewing platform in orbit in the 1980s
Apollo 8’s crew were the first humans to see the far side of the moon with their own eyes The 1990s brought the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope providing the sharpest views yet of deep space And in the 2000s the images sent back by next-generation space probes gave scientists a better understanding of Mars and the outer solar system At the same time astronauts mastered photography in low Earth orbit aboard the International Space Station ISS an orbiting laboratory that allows astronauts to spend months in space Through NASA’s photos people around the world have been able to participate in some of the most amazing voyages in human history
