The Blue Marble: How a Photograph Revealed Earth's Fragile Beauty

by Don Nardo, James H Gerard (Consultant Editor)

The astronauts headed to the moon in December 1972 thought they knew what to expect. They would soon be exploring the moon’s surface in a lunar rover, traveling farther than anyone before them. They would be collecting soil and rock samples for study back on Earth and could expect to learn about the moon’s physical makeup and age. But what they didn’t expect came as a huge bonus. The astronauts of Apollo 17 would produce an amazing photograph of planet Earth a lonely globe floating in inky black space. Their stunning Blue Marble image was destined to become one of the most reproduced and recognizable photos in history. And no one is 100 percent sure who took it.

Genres: History, Childrens, Nonfiction, Space, Science

64 pages, Library Binding

First published January 1, 2014

About the author

Don Nardo (born February 22, 1947) is an American historian, composer, and writer. With close to four hundred and fifty published books, he is one of the most prolific authors in the United States, and one of the country's foremost writers of historical works for children and teens.

Reviews

[Alicia · Rating 3 out of 5]

This photography series that focuses on the historical context of the impact of a single photo and this one, focusing on the Earth as the "blue marble" discussing the space race, space program, astronauts who share the ownership since neither of the three knows who actually took it, and is one of the most requested and recognizable.

The perfect summary of why it is so impactful is shared in the book by Greory Petsko: the entire planet appeared "tiny, vulnerable, and incredibly lonely against the vast blackness of the cosmos. It also seemed whole in a way that no map could illustrate. Regional conflict and petty differences could be dismissed as trivial compared with environmental dangers that threatened all of humanity, traveling together through the void on this fragile-looking marble."

[Barbara · Rating 3 out of 5]

During the Apollo 17 mission in 1972 the three astronauts took photographs of the Earth from the perspective of space. The photograph captured the attention of the world, and became known as "the blue marble" photograph. It isn't clear which astronaut took the particular shot that ended up being produced by NASA, which makes the story even more interesting. But no one can deny the compelling nature of that image, Earth against a backdrop of black nothingness, reminding viewers of our uniqueness and all that we have in common. Another title in the Captured World History series, this one offers some background about the space race while discussing the photograph. I would have liked to have known a bit more about the astronauts and how NASA selected the image and the public's reaction to it. Still, the book has plenty to keep students interested in reading it.

[Roberta Westwood · Rating 1 out of 5]

Great content, iffy narration

Absolutely fantastic content, definitely worth a listen. Love the blue marble!
The audio is just weird. It’s probably a synthetic voice, although it sounds ok…. but it reads all the photo captions - even if the photos appear in the middle of a paragraph. So you get: half a sentence, pause, caption, pause, second half of sentence. I think it was a free title, so I can’t complain, but jeez!

I listened to the Audible audiobook.

[Ruth Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

July 20, 1969 - man landed on the moon.

We don't think about it, but one of Apollo 17's photos is very famous and recognizable - the Big Blue Marble - and is on the cover of this book. It's taken from the Apollo 17 module. Two astronauts claimed credit for the photo, lol!

Glossary; timeline, resources.