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"The Blue Marble" is a famous photograph of Earth taken on 7 December 1972 by the crew of the Apollo 17 spacecraft at a distance of approximately 55,000 km. It is one of the most widely distributed photographic images in existence.|
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| Original caption: "View of the Earth as seen by the Apollo 17 crew traveling toward the moon. This translunar coast photograph extends from the Mediterranean Sea area to the Antarctica south polar ice cap. This is the first time the Apollo trajectory made it possible to photograph the south polar ice cap. Note the heavy cloud cover in the Southern Hemisphere. Almost the entire coastline of Africa is clearly visible. The Arabian Peninsula can be seen at the northeastern edge of Africa. The large island off the coast of Africa is the Malagasy Republic. The Asian mainland is on the horizon toward the northeast."
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Apollo 17's late-day ( EST) December launch meant that the spacecraft passed over Africa during daylight hours in Africa; the mission's timing during the Southern Hemisphere's summer meant that Antarctica was also illuminated. The photograph was taken approximately five hours after the spacecraft's launch, while en route to the Moon. Apollo 17, notably, was the last manned lunar mission; no humans since have been at a range where taking a "whole-Earth" photograph such as "The Blue Marble" would be possible.
NASA officially credits the image to the entire Apollo 17 crew — Eugene Cernan, Ronald Evans and Jack Schmitt — all of whom took photographic images during the mission with an on-board Hasselblad camera. Schmitt later claimed that he personally took the famous image, but the identity of the photographer is unverifiable.
"The Blue Marble" was the first clear image of an illuminated face of Earth. Released during a surge in environmental activism during the 1970sMillennia: 1st millennium 2nd millennium 3rd millennium Centuries: 19th century 20th century 21st century Decades: 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s 2020s Years: 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 Events and trends, the image was seen by many as a depiction of Earth's frailty, vulnerability, and isolation amid the expanse of space. NASA archivist Mike Gentry has speculated that "The Blue Marble" is the most widely distributed image in human history.
Subsequent similar images of Earth (including composites at much higher resolution) have been also been termed "blue marble" images, and the phrase "blue marble" (as well as the picture itself) is used frequently by environmental activism organizations or companies attempting to promote an environmentally-conscious image.
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