Why weren't any shots of the Earth taken from the moon's surface?
I know the reason explained on why there are no stars in the backround on the shots from the surface has to do with the contrast, but were there times when a fully lit Earth or crescent Earth could have been taken from the surface? I think it was Jim Lovell that took the earthrise shot from Apollo 8 in space (met him at a book signing too).
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NASA links re: Apollo photos (with an email address for info as well).
WilliamCharles
Level 8
Feb 18, 2022
1
The same FB account that posted this meme also wanted to know why Apollo used the stars for navigation when they could just fly at the moon [rolls eyes]. I posted this link.
WilliamCharles
Level 8
Feb 18, 2022
1
glennlab
Level 10
Feb 18, 2022
3
That's still from the spacecraft, no?
@WilliamCharles This was taken from the surface per my understanding, the famous earthrise was by apollo 8 from orbit.
@glennlab - Thx. Quite an amazing shot regardless.
Aside from this meme... who says that the astronauts didn't take photos of the Earth? It took me less than 5 minutes to locate a picture from the moon showing the Earth in the background. You can find the picture on this link.
Charles1971
Level 7
Feb 18, 2022
4
That picture is from orbit if I'm not mistaken, not by those who had landed on the moon.
Found it. Thanks.
Why waste time when on the moon's surface? They photographed the earth whilst orbiting the moon, instead.
Petter
Level 9
Feb 18, 2022
1
Why would it be a waste of time? A shot of the Earth in the sky from the moon's surface sounds awesome.
@WilliamCharles Ever seen the photo "Earthrise"?
@Petter - I have, but that's taken from the spacecraft.
I'm not endorsing the meme, just curious if the celestial dynamics allow a daylight Earth (even partial) to be seen from the daylight side on the moon.
WilliamCharles
Level 8
Feb 18, 2022
1
The earth would have similar phases as the moon does from earth.
@glennlab - That's what I'm trying to figure out. If one can photograph the moon in daylight from Earth at the right times, would there be even more opportunities to shoot the Earth from the moon in daylight as there is no atmosphere to scatter the light meaning the sky would be dark? Could you also take one of those dramatic photos of the Milky Way as well?
@WilliamCharles The only time you would not be able to photograph the earth, would be during the new moon when the daylight side of the moon is totally facing away from the earth.
Could the astronauts see stars on the moon?
Neil Armstrong said, in a post-Apollo 11 press conference: “we were never able to see stars from the lunar surface or on the daylight side of the Moon by eye without looking through the optics.” Gene Cernan said that, while standing in the shadow of the Apollo 17 LM, he could see some stars while he was outside.
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