Space Mission
Apollo 17, 7-19 December 1972
Photographer
Ronald Evans
Photo Description
“Vintage chromogenic print on resin coated Kodak paper with “A Kodak Paper” watermarks on the verso [NASA AS17-152-23274]
8 x 10in. (20.3 x 25.4cm.)”
Essay
“Evans took this wonderful photograph from magazine 152/ PP through the 250mm telephoto lens from an altitude of 113km over the 51-km Crater Ritz.
Of the many views of the Earth photographed from lunar orbit, the crescent Earth visible during the Apollo 17 mission afforded what many consider “the most lyrical version of that phenomenon, a poetic coda to the first manned period of exploration” (Schick and Van Haaften, p. 120).
217:20:19 Evans: Houston, America. Looks like we’re with you again.
217:20:23 Mission Control: Okay, America.
217:20:23 Evans: … We’ve been taking its picture (the Earth) just as we came up.
“I look at that Earthrise. How can I sit here and tell you about it without first showing you a picture? You’ve got a whole historical drama, if you will, in photographs of something that most people still consider an incredible venture.”
Eugene Cernan (Schick and Van Haaften, p. 125)”