Apollo 8, the first crewed mission to the moon, entered lunar orbit on Christmas Eve, December 24, 1968. As the Apollo 8 crew members Frank Borman, James Lovell, and William (Bill) Anders orbited the moon aboard the spacecraft, Anders spotted and captured Earthrise, one of the most iconic space photos ever made.
"Earthrise" is an iconic photo of Earth rising up from the Moon's horizon that's considered one of the most important environmental photos ever made. Here's a fascinating 3-minute visualization by NASA that recreates how the photo was shot in real-time.
Apollo 8 was the first manned mission to leave Earth's orbit, orbit the Moon, and return to Earth. Since it wasn't a moon landing, though, it tends to not be as celebrated as other manned moon missions. But the photo known as Earthrise was captured during this mission on December 24th, 1968, becoming an iconic piece of history. This 6-minute video from Vintage Space explores the question of who the person behind the camera was.