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Iconic original 'Type 1' vintage color glossy 10 x 8 red-numbered NASA photo (AS17-148-22727) of the famous 'Blue Marble' image of Earth taken by Harrison Schmitt aboard the Apollo 17 spacecraft while en route to the moon. Reverse bears "A Kodak Paper" watermarks. In very good to fine condition, with some light surface scuffing to the left and right sides.
Captured on December 7, 1972, as Apollo 17 journeyed toward the Moon, the 'Blue Marble' became one of the most widely reproduced and influential photographs in history—the first fully illuminated image of Earth ever taken by human hands. Unlike earlier partial views captured from lunar orbit, this frame presents our planet in its entirety, suspended against the blackness of space, with Africa, Antarctica, and swirling cloud systems rendered in remarkable clarity.
Emerging at the height of the environmental movement, the image quickly assumed symbolic status, reshaping humanity’s perception of its place in the cosmos and underscoring the fragility and unity of life on a single world. As the final crewed mission to the Moon, Apollo 17 marked the end of an era, and the 'Blue Marble' stands as its most enduring visual legacy—an arresting and poetic testament to exploration, perspective, and planetary consciousness.
