Advent Day 9 - Blue Marble

First a disclaimer - the shot of earth is not my photo...I’ve never been to space (but it is a dream of mine to do so) but I got thinking about space when I read the devotion that Jen shared this morning. I remembered how this Saturday was the anniversary of when the Apollo 17 astronauts shot one of the most famous photographs ever taken. As they departed Earth for our final trip to the moon, they were able to get a fully illuminated shot of the whole of the earth. This shot has become known as “The Blue Marble.” In his Writer’s Almanac podcast on Saturday, Garrison Keillor quoted astronomer Fred Hoyle who said,

Once a photograph of the Earth, taken from the outside, is available — once the sheer isolation of the Earth becomes plain — a new idea as powerful as any in history will be let loose. (1948)

Jen shared of an ad from the early 2000s that showed a series of images and quotes similar to this with the core message of seeking peace, goodwill, and love. How important it is for us to remember how we are all in this together, on this one little planet, in the midst of a vast and seemingly infinite universe.

PS - the moon shot is one that I took - closest I can come to a shot like the Blue Marble one...