4.1.1 -
While it doesn’t show the full Earth, the first images of interest to us are actually from the 16mm footage taken at the same time as the SIV-
Figure 4.1.1.1: Composite of several screenshots from Apollo 8 16mm footage compared with ESSA satellite image.
Comparing this with the ESSA mosaic is a relatively straightforward business once it is realised that the film sequence used in the original video is the wrong way round -
More importantly, the Earth orbit insertion at 13:00 on the 21st was still several hours before this area was covered by the ESSA satellite. There is no ATS image for this date, but the evidence from ESSA clearly matches the Apollo video. The fact that it is a moving image, not a static photograph and complete with lumps of space hardware spinning in micro-
It’s also worth mentioning that the TLI burn was observed from Hawaii. Separation was 25 minutes after this, and this would put the Apollo 8 ship exactly where it appears to be in the film.
The are some more sequences of this view of Earth in this 16mm magazine, either of side of which are shots of a now distant S-
Figure 4.1.1.3: AS08-
Figure 4.1.1.4: ESSA-
It is also taken very soon after separation from the Saturn IV-
It is also worth noting the shadow under the linear cloud mass near the terminator over north Africa (picked out by the magenta arrow). The direction of that shadow under the clouds is consistent with the sun's direction at sunset. It’s also obvious that the now moon bound craft has moved further East over the Earth’s surface, as we can now see the West coast of Africa. That cloud system is also nearer the termintor than the 16mm views shown figure 4.1.1.2. The 3D rendering of the digitally restored data is both spectacular and completely accurate.
We have another 16mm still taken at around the same time, if we examine the amount of Africa visible it would appear to have been taken about 15 minutes after the still image (figure 4.1.1.5), and perhaps 90 minutes after the first sequence of Earth photos in magazine 16, taken shortly after TLI -
Close examination of the clouds and also what land is on view suggests it was taken at the same time as the 16mm footage.
ESSA 7 data suggest that South America would have been photographed by the satellite at about 19:09, as this was when track 3 (pass number 1594) of the satellite's daily orbit over it was commenced. The time over the terminator area would be more covered by track number 1, orbit 1592, which commenced at 15:05. At the time of the Apollo image, then, it would be another 2 hours before the satellite would image the area photographed, and there would be a further few hours on top of that before all the visible Earth was covered.
The next in the series of images taken showing any significant change in the scene below them is AS08-
Figure 4.1.1.7: AS08-
Figure 4.1.1.8: ESSA-
In this image, the long shadows are cast by the clouds over the Amazon, and the yellow & purple arrows point to the same weather systems as they do in the previous figure, although only the thin tail curling away from the yellow arrow system is still visible.
Much more prominent now are a large spiral system off the north American coast and below Alaska (green arrow), and the scattered clouds over the south Pacific. There is also a prominent plume of cloud heading northwards from Antarctica (magenta arrow), and a small whirl of cloud off south America (red arrow) that are all easily found on the satellite image, along with all the other weather patterns.
The Earth has rotated by a consistent amount between the first two photographs analysed, the shadows lengthen at the terminator, and the weather systems are still visible from the previous image. The bright spot showing the sun's reflection can be seen in this image, and the perspective of the photographer has changed noticeably, with much more of the Antarctic region in view. It’s worth mentioning again that the 3D reconstruction superbly recreates the scene.
SkySafari suggests a terminator time of around 21:15 on the 21st. The ESSA track over the terminator region was commenced at 17:00, as this was when track 2 (pass number 1593) began, as discussed for AS08-
008:24:29 Anders: …Sure got a nice view of the Earth from here. We can see Baja California and about where San Diego ought to be.
Which at about 21:20 GMT is pretty much bang on the money.
The next image in the magazine, AS08-
SkySafari suggests a 15 minute time difference between the two still images. There also appears to be a roughly 30 minute difference between the photograph and 16mm still, judging by the movement of the large cloud mass west of Chile, but it’s also possible that the difference in camera and film might be overstating the change.
The next image, as will be demonstrated, was taken on day 2, so click the link to see the evidence.
Figure 4.1.1.9: Comparison of 16mm still with AS08-
Figure 4.1.1.5: 16mm still, (top left) with the terminator around Africa compared with that from figure 4.1.1.1, and SkySafari time estimate. Below centre and right is AS08-
SkySafari’s estimates (see here for explanation) put the timings for the photograph at 17:30 and 18:00 for the 16mm still, shortly after the initial separation from the SIV-
At the time the image was taken, the transcript records a crew comment saying that:
004:36:00 Anders: … it's a beautiful view with numerous cloud vortex
As well as Borman commenting that
004:37:15 Borman: I can still see the Cape and isthmus of Central America.
Whereas it’s much more prominent in the later 16mm still.
It’s also worth including this partial view of Earth (figure 4.1.1.6), which is notable because it shows part of the now discarded 4th stage at the top of the photograph.
Figure 4.1.1.6: AS08-
The CSM performed an evasive manoevre (to put some distance between it and the S-
003:35:44 Borman: We see the Earth now, almost as a disk.
003:35:59 Lovell: We have a beautiful view of Florida now. We can see the Cape, just the point.
003:36:05 Collins: Roger.
003:36:06 Lovell: And at the same time, we can see Africa. West Africa is beautiful. I can also see Gibraltar at the same time I'm looking at Florida.
Which shows they are exactly where they should be. It’s noticeable that more of Africa is now visible in these images and that we can now see (just) the terminator, and setting the SkySafari time at the CSM evasive manoeuvre produces an excellent match with what we can see here.
A little after this we have the images of a full Earth in Hasselblad magazine number 16. This magazine is notable because it contains images from all stages of the mission from initial low earth orbit, separation of the Saturn IV-
Figure 4.1.1.2: Assembled 16mm frames showing Earth, together with SkySafari time estimate.
