Top NASA Photos of All Time
50 indelible images from the first 50 years of spaceflight
- By The Space History Division, National Air and Space Museum
- Photographs by NASA
- Air & Space magazine, November 2008
2. EarthRise, 1968 The Last Whole Earth Catalog described this image as: “The famous Apollo 8 picture of Earthrise over the moon that established our planetary facthood and beauty and rareness (dry moon, barren space) and began to bend human consciousness.” Matt Hale
On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, which began its operations on October 1, 1958, we offer this list of the 50 most memorable images from NASA’s history (see all 50 in the photo gallery at right). We recognize that any such ranking is inherently subjective. The rationale for why any one image ranked two slots higher than any other combines several factors, including our attempt to balance the list between human spaceflight, satellite imaging, and planetary exploration. Many wonderful images did not make the final cut—we couldn’t convince the editors to give us 20 pages instead of 10.
The list omits significant events from space history that were not NASA achievements, such as the famous 1958 photograph of Wernher von Braun and the other architects of the Explorer 1 satellite celebrating their success by holding a model of the satellite over their heads, an event that occurred months before NASA existed. Photos from the Apollo moon program predominate, as well they should—it remains the agency’s crowning achievement. We also recognize that, even though the first “A” in NASA stands for “aeronautics,” our list is light on aeronautical breakthroughs (see Moments & Milestones, p. 84). Our only excuse is that the ranking reflects the affinity of the division of space history staff for space topics.
We welcome the discussion we know this list will spark. Debating which images should or shouldn’t have been ranked, and how high, would be an appropriate way to mark the past half century of NASA’s accomplishments.
Related topics: NASA
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Comments (23)
Unbelievable; Beautiful Pictures. I really admire the men and women who made this all possible. Brilliant people.
Posted by John E Bradley on September 19,2008 | 02:08 PM
Staggeringly beautiful and clear. Mkes all the problems on earth pail to insignificance.
Posted by don thomas on October 3,2008 | 01:29 PM
Having seen 4 UFO's and believing there's a possibility this planet may not die due to mismanagement am humbled by the exhibit of beautiful life here.
Posted by Nancy Palmer on October 13,2008 | 01:05 PM
Photo number 11 is very familiar, my Dad, Ed von Renouard was the technician in charge of the slow scan converter at Honeysuckle Creek tracking station and he took the photo!Would have been nice to see his name printed next to it!
Posted by Karen von Renouard on October 20,2008 | 05:10 PM
Good photos. Though I'm very surprised that "Pale Blue Dot" wasn't featured. Earth as a single pixel, taken by Voyager from the edge of the solar system.
Posted by Neil Fraser on October 27,2008 | 01:17 PM
Great photos; like a space photo history of my growing up.
Posted by cfw on October 28,2008 | 07:58 AM
The NASA image exchange (NIX) has always been one of my favorite sites for pictures, even in its older and harder to search version. Pretty much every picture they have ever taken is indexed and downloadable. Truly amazing stuff!
http://nix.nasa.gov/
Posted by ritgarr on October 28,2008 | 03:54 PM
It's amazing. This list represents the giants' work of NASA people. Congratulations.
Posted by Mustafá Ali Kanso on November 2,2008 | 02:41 PM
Simply beautiful pics. We need to treasure these for our future generations.
Posted by Superamani Ramanaidu - Malaysia on November 21,2008 | 04:30 AM
Outstanding photos! You can't help but look at them and think that the best still lies ahead for mankind. Thanks.
Posted by Fred Penna on November 24,2008 | 04:28 PM
The reproduced image of "Bootprint on the moon" is inverted. Flip the magazine 180 and get to see it as it really was: a depression in the surface.
Shadow plays an important part on visual perception of height or depth. Maybe a semester of air photo interp is in order here.
Posted by Allan Susoeff on November 26,2008 | 11:16 PM
Fantastic pics, though somewhat surprised there was no image of the pic on Venus and the pics of Titan. Outstanding nonetheless.
Posted by PumpyChowdown on December 1,2008 | 04:52 AM
Is there any chance of putting these on one big page of thumbnails so we can browse instead of having to page through every single one?
Yes, they're all beautiful and noteworthy, but being forced to look at every single one diminishes them as a collection.
Posted by Philo on December 1,2008 | 01:11 PM
Quintessential photography simply "out of this world." I like the Cape Cod shot the best as I worked as a National Seashore Ranger back in the infancy of the Space program - 1964! Sending this from North Brookfield, Massachusetts.
Posted by Robert L. Potvin on December 17,2008 | 08:46 PM
simply great
Posted by hemant on January 30,2009 | 01:22 AM
I saw this segment in the magazine and I have to say, if there was ever a time for a special edition of Air & Space - this was it. The small size of the photos could not do justice to their content. I'd pay an extra $1 for better pics. That is my 2¢ worth.
Matt P. in Cambridge MA
Posted by Matt P. on March 3,2009 | 05:19 PM
these pictures are really awesome. i always admire those people who have made these possible. hats off to them
Posted by deepika kanade on May 17,2009 | 07:07 AM
What amazing pictures.
Posted by Becky Fordham on September 20,2009 | 07:15 PM
It's a shame that this iconic photo isn't genuine, especially as most of the commentators here don't seem to have a clue that it's a doctored image.
Why isn't it genuine?
The same reason the moon looks grey and white from over 200,000 miles away.
Atmospheric scattering.
Earths atmosphere causes the Earth to look grey/white and faintly blue. There are NO browns, tans and greens. The bright blue colour that can be seen from space, is only apparent in close earth orbit.
Another curious thing is that Apollo 17 took another iconic photo of Earth, but this time from the surface of the moon and guess what? Yes, there was the Earth in full colour..browns, greens, tans, yellows and blue...impossible.
NB. This is in NO way meant to mean the missions were faked....just a lot of the photos were...the question is why? And why have NASA not told the public these iconic photos are false colour?
Posted by John on November 14,2009 | 10:49 AM
great pics , great site im realy impressed. i'm looking for drawing of Apollo command module to do a small scale model, where can i find it on the net ?? if someone can help me will be realy great . cheers Gerard Australia EDITORS' REPLY: Start at www.nasa.gov, and go through the Public Affairs Office.
Posted by Gerard on September 29,2010 | 02:11 AM
These are great pictures, but I'm a little surprised that better copies weren't used. These seem contrasty and washed out compared to reproductions I've seen elsewhere.
Posted by Michael Seeley on June 10,2011 | 10:25 AM
I think NASA would publish books related to space-time, and various other scientific knowledge books, especially for youngsters to encourage them to come and make a future in the field of physics. I am aditya singh from mahasamund, c.g. (India). I'm crazingly interested in physics. Nowadays I'm researching various concepts of space and time.
Posted by on June 16,2011 | 10:07 AM
The picture is so beautiful.
Posted by Bansari on October 18,2011 | 04:20 AM