Washington, May 9 (IANS): More than 45 years have passed since the first "Earthrise" photo was taken by the Apollo 8 crew in 1968, showing the Earth for the first time as it appears from deep space.
Now, NASA has released the 21st version of the "Earthrise" photo where the blue Earth appears to be rising above the craters of the Moon, as captured by the space agency's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) Feb 1 this year.
LRO experiences 12 "earthrises" every day. However, it is always busy imaging the lunar surface and so an opportunity when the LRO can capture a view of the Earth arises rarely.
On Feb 1, the LRO pitched forward while approaching the Moon's north pole, allowing the LROC Wide Angle Camera to capture the Earth rising above Rozhdestvenskiy crater, 180 km in diametre.
In the photo, the Earth appears relatively brighter than the Moon and presents near true colours that the average person might see.