Rising Earth, taken by Apollo 8 crew, 1968
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It was our first look at our planet from Space. 40 years ago Christmas Eve, December 
24, 1968, that morning Frank Borman, James Lovell and William Anders (who took the 
shot) became the first humans to achieve escape velocity from Earth and orbit the 
moon. On their way around our celestial buddy they saw it, Us, the pale blue dot, 
the third planet from the Sun, Earth. There it sat, alone in a sea of black, a fabulous 
blue and white illuminated rock hurling through endless space; with us crawling all over it.

In the photo, South America is in the middle, and South, is up, which shows how relevant 
everything truly is. I was six years old when the photo was taken, I probably thought 
it was just a pretty picture in a book or magazine. Later, I would be humbled by it when 
I first realized what it was. It made me feel small, alone, and strangely connected to 
each and every one on the planet. It's a small little piece of planetary wonder, in such 
vastness, and it's ours to share. From that distance China and the U.S. seem around the 
corner, and you can't see everyone's differences from space. Only light, dark, color, 
beauty, interstellar magic that brought us forth, yes, a miracle, a miracle of natural 
order, selection and evolution.