Just Because It's Trending Doesn't Mean It's True

Home, Sweet Home: NASA's Newest Earth Selfie From The Moon

  • by: Alan Duke
  • (Mon, 28 Dec 2015 20:16:34 Z)

Every human who ever lived is somewhere in this photo. NASA released a new image taken by it's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter showing the spacecraft's view of earth from its orbit of the moon.

Earth rise from LRO.png

"The image is simply stunning," said Noah Petro, Deputy Project Scientist for LRO at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. "The image of the Earth evokes the famous 'Blue Marble' image taken by Astronaut Harrison Schmitt during Apollo 17, 43 years ago, which also showed Africa prominently in the picture."

The composite image shows Earth appearing to rise over the lunar horizon, with the center of the planet just off the coast of Liberia.
LRO was launched on June 18, 2009, and has collected a treasure trove of data with its seven powerful instruments. LRO sees12 earthrises every day, although the spacecraft is usually busy studying the lunar surface.

For more about the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, click here.

About the author:

Editor-in-Chief Alan Duke co-founded Lead Stories after ending a 26-year career with CNN, where he mainly covered entertainment, current affairs and politics. Duke closely covered domestic terrorism cases for CNN, including the Oklahoma City federal building bombing, the UNABOMBER and search for Southeast bomber Eric Robert Rudolph. CNN moved Duke to Los Angeles in 2009 to cover the entertainment beat. Duke also co-hosted a daily podcast with former HLN host Nancy Grace, "Crime Stories with Nancy Grace" and hosted the podcast series "Stan Lee's World: His Real Life Battle with Heroes & Villains." You'll also see Duke in many news documentaries, including on the Reelz channel, CNN and HLN.

Read more about or contact Alan Duke