{"id":38909,"date":"2013-12-20T04:56:00","date_gmt":"2013-12-20T08:56:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/?migration=converted-node-341146"},"modified":"2023-08-21T12:20:26","modified_gmt":"2023-08-21T16:20:26","slug":"nasa-releases-new-earthrise-simulation-video","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/missions\/nasa-releases-new-earthrise-simulation-video\/","title":{"rendered":"NASA Releases New Earthrise Simulation Video"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>NASA has issued a new visualization of the events leading to one of the iconic photographs of the 20th Century \u2013 Earth rising over the moon captured by the crew of the Apollo 8 mission.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"NASA | Earthrise: The 45th Anniversary\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/dE-vOscpiNc?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">To mark the 45th anniversary of the Apollo 8 “Earthrise” photograph, NASA’s Scientific Visualization Studio has recreated this historic moment exactly as the astronauts saw it, using data from NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter.<br>Credits: NASA Goddard Scientific Visualization Studio <a href=\"https:\/\/svs.gsfc.nasa.gov\/4593\" rel=\"noopener\">Download video<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The photo known as Earthrise is the first color photograph of Earth taken by a person in lunar orbit. Earthrise is the cover photo of TIME\u2019s Great Images of the 20th Century, and is the central photo on the cover of LIFE\u2019s 100 Photographs That Changed the World.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cEarthrise had a profound impact on our attitudes toward our home planet, quickly becoming an icon of the environmental movement,\u201d says Ernie Wright, project lead with the Scientific Visualization Studio at NASA\u2019s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The visualization clearly shows how Apollo 8 Commander Frank Borman and crew members William A. Anders and James A. Lovell worked together to photograph the stunning scene as their spacecraft orbited the moon on Dec. 24, 1968. The video allows anyone to virtually ride with the astronauts and experience the awe they felt at the vista in front of them.<\/p>\n\n\n<div id=\"\" class=\"hds-media hds-module wp-block-image\"><div class=\"margin-left-auto margin-right-auto nasa-block-align-inline\"><div class=\"hds-media-wrapper margin-left-auto margin-right-auto\"><figure class=\"hds-media-inner hds-cover-wrapper hds-media-ratio-none \"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/csm.3600_0.jpg\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1080\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/csm.3600_0.jpg?w=1920\" class=\"attachment-2048x2048 size-2048x2048\" alt=\"\" style=\"transform: scale(1); transform-origin: 50% 50%; object-position: 50% 50%; object-fit: cover;\" block_context=\"nasa-block\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/csm.3600_0.jpg 1920w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/csm.3600_0.jpg?resize=300,169 300w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/csm.3600_0.jpg?resize=768,432 768w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/csm.3600_0.jpg?resize=1024,576 1024w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/csm.3600_0.jpg?resize=1536,864 1536w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/csm.3600_0.jpg?resize=400,225 400w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/csm.3600_0.jpg?resize=600,338 600w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/csm.3600_0.jpg?resize=900,506 900w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/csm.3600_0.jpg?resize=1200,675 1200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\" loading=\"eager\" \/><\/a><\/figure><figcaption class=\"hds-caption padding-y-2\"><div class=\"hds-caption-text p-sm margin-0\">This is a computer-generated visualization of the Apollo 8 spacecraft in orbit around the moon, with Earth rising over the horizon.<\/div><div class=\"hds-credits\">NASA Goddard Scientific Visualization Studio\/Ernie Wright<\/div><\/figcaption><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n<p>The new computer-generated visualization was created using data from NASA\u2019s<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/mission_pages\/LRO\/main\/\"> Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) spacecraft <\/a>and includes more details than the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/mission_pages\/LRO\/news\/apollo8-retrace.html\">previous visualization<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe Earthrise visualization that we released for Earth Day last year really only scratched the surface,\u201d says Wright. \u201cThe new visualization tells us not only what time the photos were taken, but also exactly which way the spacecraft was pointing and therefore which window each photo was taken from. This will also be the first time we\u2019ve released a video that\u2019s synchronized with the onboard audio recording of the astronauts.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Earlier \u2018Earthrise\u2019 Photo Sent Back to the Moon by Laser<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n<div id=\"\" class=\"hds-media hds-module wp-block-image\"><div class=\"margin-left-auto margin-right-auto nasa-block-align-inline\"><div class=\"hds-media-wrapper margin-left-auto margin-right-auto\"><figure class=\"hds-media-inner hds-cover-wrapper hds-media-ratio-none \"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/290262main_smallversion.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"970\" height=\"2048\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/290262main_smallversion.png?w=970\" class=\"attachment-2048x2048 size-2048x2048\" alt=\"\" style=\"transform: scale(1); transform-origin: 50% 50%; object-position: 50% 50%; object-fit: cover;\" block_context=\"nasa-block\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/290262main_smallversion.png 1740w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/290262main_smallversion.png?resize=142,300 142w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/290262main_smallversion.png?resize=768,1621 768w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/290262main_smallversion.png?resize=485,1024 485w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/290262main_smallversion.png?resize=728,1536 728w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/290262main_smallversion.png?resize=970,2048 970w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/290262main_smallversion.png?resize=189,400 189w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/290262main_smallversion.png?resize=284,600 284w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/290262main_smallversion.png?resize=426,900 426w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/290262main_smallversion.png?resize=568,1200 568w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/290262main_smallversion.png?resize=947,2000 947w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 970px) 100vw, 970px\" \/><\/a><\/figure><figcaption class=\"hds-caption padding-y-2\"><div class=\"hds-caption-text p-sm margin-0\">This Lunar Orbiter 1 image of Earth, restored by the Lunar Orbiter Image Recovery Project, was sent by laser communications to the LADEE spacecraft in lunar orbit in November 2013<\/div><div class=\"hds-credits\">NASA\/LOIRP<\/div><\/figcaption><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n<p>Along with this new visualization comes news that the first ever \u201cEarthrise\u201d photo, taken by NASA\u2019s Lunar Orbiter 1 in 1966 and restored and enhanced by the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.moonviews.com\/\" rel=\"noopener\">Lunar Orbiter Image Recovery Project<\/a> in 2008, has been sent back to the moon. The historic image from Aug. 23, 1966 was sent as a full-resolution 700 Mb data file to NASA\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/mission_pages\/ladee\/main\/index.html#.UrSLjndu57o\">Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer<\/a> (LADEE) mission in lunar orbit, using the new <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/press\/2013\/october\/nasa-laser-communication-system-sets-record-with-data-transmissions-to-and-from\/\">Lunar Laser Communication Demonstration<\/a> system. The new technology allowed the image to be sent to and from the moon in a fraction of the time required to originally send it back to Earth in 1966.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Matching Apollo Photos to LRO Data<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Data from LRO was essential to recreate the Apollo 8 event accurately. \u201cMatching Apollo photography to the lunar terrain required an accuracy and completeness that I think only LRO\u2019s data could provide,\u201d said Wright. \u201cI worked at a level of detail that required 100-meter resolution with perfect registration. You gain a new appreciation for the care of the LRO scientists who create this data when you get your virtual camera set up and the overlaid Apollo photography just snaps into place.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe key to the new work is a set of vertical stereo photographs taken by Apollo 8,\u201d adds Wright. \u201cA camera was mounted in the rendezvous window that pointed straight down onto the lunar surface. It took a picture every 20 seconds. When the spacecraft rotated, so did the images. By registering each photo to a model of the terrain from LRO data, we can nail down the timing of the spacecraft\u2019s rotation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To make the simulation as faithful as possible, Wright also used the Apollo 8 flight plan, the onboard voice recording, data on the optical properties and mounting of the Hasselblad cameras, the dimensions and angles of the Command Module windows, a global map of Earth\u2019s cloud patterns from the Environmental Science Services Administration 7 satellite on the day the Earthrise photo was taken, and the position and orientation of the moon, the Earth, the sun, and the spacecraft.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cImmersing myself in this mission allowed me to imagine that I was riding along with the astronauts,\u201d said Wright. \u201cFor someone old enough to remember Apollo, it was a real joy to relive it this way, with a mature understanding of what the program accomplished.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIt also highlighted for me how much remains to be learned from our nearest neighbor in space,\u201d adds Wright. \u201cThe ground truth and eyewitness reports from Apollo are now being put into scientific context using the avalanche of modern data from LRO. We\u2019re learning things that are changing our ideas about the history of the solar system.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI had the honor of meeting Bill Anders after we released the first Earthrise visualization, and we\u2019ve kept him informed about our work on this one,\u201d said Wright. \u201cIt\u2019s also been great fun collaborating with others who have the same enthusiasm about Apollo, not least of whom were space historian Andy Chaikin, who narrated the video, and Goddard LRO project scientist Noah Petro, who served as a technical consultant.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n<div id=\"\" class=\"hds-media hds-module wp-block-image\"><div class=\"margin-left-auto margin-right-auto nasa-block-align-inline\"><div class=\"hds-media-wrapper margin-left-auto margin-right-auto\"><figure class=\"hds-media-inner hds-cover-wrapper hds-media-ratio-none \"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/window_rendezvous.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1080\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/window_rendezvous.jpg?w=1920\" class=\"attachment-2048x2048 size-2048x2048\" alt=\"\" style=\"transform: scale(1); transform-origin: 50% 50%; object-position: 50% 50%; object-fit: cover;\" block_context=\"nasa-block\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/window_rendezvous.jpg 1920w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/window_rendezvous.jpg?resize=300,169 300w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/window_rendezvous.jpg?resize=768,432 768w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/window_rendezvous.jpg?resize=1024,576 1024w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/window_rendezvous.jpg?resize=1536,864 1536w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/window_rendezvous.jpg?resize=400,225 400w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/window_rendezvous.jpg?resize=600,338 600w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/window_rendezvous.jpg?resize=900,506 900w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/window_rendezvous.jpg?resize=1200,675 1200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\" \/><\/a><\/figure><figcaption class=\"hds-caption padding-y-2\"><div class=\"hds-caption-text p-sm margin-0\">This is a computer-generated visualization of Earth rising over the lunar horizon, as seen from a window in the Apollo 8 spacecraft.<\/div><div class=\"hds-credits\">Ernie Wright\/NASA Goddard Scientific Visualization Studio<\/div><\/figcaption><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe video was created because with LRO we have, for the first time ever, high-precision data, in both image data and topography of the lunar surface, that allows us to faithfully recreate what astronauts saw from orbit,\u201d said Petro. \u201cThe Apollo 8 Earthrise event served as turning point in our exploration of space, and to recreate that moment and experience it as only three people have experienced it, is thrilling. Scientifically, LRO data is being used to fundamentally change our understanding of the moon.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The simulation was funded by the LRO project. Launched on June 18, 2009, LRO will continue to send back lunar data until October 2014, with the possibility of an additional two years. LRO is managed by NASA Goddard for the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em><strong>Bill Steigerwald<br><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/goddard\">NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center<\/a>, Greenbelt, Md.<br><a href=\"mailto:William.A.Steigerwald@nasa.gov\">William.A.Steigerwald@nasa.gov<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>NASA has issued a new visualization of the events leading to one of the iconic photographs of the 20th Century \u2013 Earth rising over the moon captured by the crew of the Apollo 8 mission. The photo known as Earthrise is the first color photograph of Earth taken by a person in lunar orbit. Earthrise [...]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":194,"featured_media":37713,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nasa_hds_core_meta_l10n":"en-US","nasa_hds_core_meta_article_editor":"","nasa_hds_core_meta_article_contacts":[],"nasa_hds_core_meta_article_topic":"","nasa_hds_core_meta_linked_locations":[],"nasa_hds_core_meta_article_related_articles":[],"hds_migrate_meta_pr_release_id":"","hds_migrate_meta_pr_release_type":"","nasa_hds_core_meta_location_x":"","nasa_hds_core_meta_location_y":"","nasa_hds_core_meta_gallery_images":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[2854,2713,2934,3760,2857,2742,2655,2671,2658],"news-tags":[],"internal-terms":[3913,4211],"coauthors":[],"parsely":{"version":"1.1.0","meta":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","headline":"NASA Releases New Earthrise Simulation Video","url":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/missions\/nasa-releases-new-earthrise-simulation-video\/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/missions\/nasa-releases-new-earthrise-simulation-video\/"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/csm.3600_0.jpg?w=150&h=150&crop=1","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/csm.3600_0.jpg"},"articleSection":"NASA Centers & Facilities","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"William Steigerwald"}],"creator":["William Steigerwald"],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"NASA","logo":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/themes\/nasa\/assets\/images\/nasa-logo.svg"},"keywords":["The Solar System","Ames Research Center","Apollo","Apollo 8","Earth's Moon","Goddard Space Flight Center","Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO)","Missions","NASA History"],"dateCreated":"2013-12-20T08:56:00Z","datePublished":"2013-12-20T08:56:00Z","dateModified":"2023-08-21T16:20:26Z"},"rendered":"<meta name=\"parsely-title\" content=\"NASA Releases New Earthrise Simulation Video\" \/>\n<meta name=\"parsely-link\" content=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/missions\/nasa-releases-new-earthrise-simulation-video\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"parsely-type\" content=\"post\" \/>\n<meta name=\"parsely-image-url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/csm.3600_0.jpg?w=150&h=150&crop=1\" \/>\n<meta name=\"parsely-pub-date\" content=\"2013-12-20T08:56:00Z\" \/>\n<meta name=\"parsely-section\" content=\"NASA Centers & Facilities\" \/>\n<meta name=\"parsely-tags\" content=\"The Solar System,Ames Research Center,Apollo,Apollo 8,Earth's Moon,Goddard Space Flight Center,Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO),Missions,NASA History\" \/>\n<meta name=\"parsely-author\" content=\"William Steigerwald\" \/>","tracker_url":"https:\/\/cdn.parsely.com\/keys\/nasa.gov\/p.js"},"read_time":5,"time_ago":"10 years","featured_image":{"id":37713,"file":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/csm.3600_0.jpg","title":"csm.3600_0","alt":"","caption":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38909"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/194"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38909"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38909\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":215269,"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38909\/revisions\/215269"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/37713"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38909"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38909"},{"taxonomy":"news-tags","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-tags?post=38909"},{"taxonomy":"internal-terms","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/internal-terms?post=38909"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=38909"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}