Earthrise

Circling the moon, James Lovell looked back at the Earth. In contrast to the grey and desolate surface of the Moon, his home planet, even from a distance of four hundred thousand kilometers away, vibrated in vivid colors, blue and green, brown and yellow and white. The crew of Apollo 8, William Anders, Frank Borman and James Lovell had been lifted into space on December 8,1968. Their mission lasted six days, three hours and forty two seconds. The three astronauts were the first humans to witness an earthrise from outer space. Moved by the awe-inspiring experience, they read verses from Genesis, beginning with, "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth". During the mission Lovell watched the Earth from the Moon and at some point he held up his thumb at arm's length. This brought about a revelation, as he saw that he could completely blot out his home planet just with his thumb. It was a significant moment as the astronaut suddenly realized man's insignificance in the universe. However, Captain Lovell's insight does not really prove that we are insignificant. It just shows that, on a cosmic scale, the Earth is a tiny object.