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RE: What Will Earth Become? [A View Through the Looking Glass]
This photograph, taken by Apollo 17 astronauts on December 7, 1972, shows Earth almost fully illuminated. The astronauts had the Sun behind them when they took the image just over 5 hours after launch. Apollo 17 was the last manned lunar mission. No human since has been far enough from Earth to photograph a whole-Earth image such as this, which became known as The Blue Marble. (Source)
I remember it like yesterday.
Such a powerful image!
You know, when the photograph was taken, the Earth was flipped. People seem to like north at the top - even at the expense of authenticity.
So was there a moment in the history of map-making that made North "Up" and South "Down?" This is fascinating.
In the case of this photograph, the way the astronauts' were holding NASA's 70-millimeter Hasselblad with an 80-millimeter Zeiss lens it was capturing south on "top." In presenting the image to the public, prints were turned 180 degrees so that north was on top.
beautiful