On "a date which will live in infamy," here's an Anniversary Worth Celebrating: One NASA archivist thinks it might be the most widely distributed image in human history. Nicknamed “The Blue Marble,” this immortal shot was captured by the crew of Apollo 17 on this date 42 years ago – December 7, 1972. Not the first full-Earth shot taken from space, it is unquestionably the most iconic, as perfect illumination provided by the Sun behind the astronauts on their way to the Moon made for an incredible image of the place we all call home.

The level of detail in the photo can fill essays. The coast of Africa, the Arabian Peninsula, and Madagascar are easily visible. The Asian mainland trails off toward the horizon. A cyclone churns in the Indian Ocean, two days after it brought flooding and high winds to India. Cloud cover blankets the Southern Hemisphere. The original orientation of the photo had Antarctica at the top, but NASA rotated it to place the South Pole at the bottom, allowing all of us with cultural notions that south is at the “bottom” to more easily find our bearings when we look at it. (NASA also provided the nickname “The Blue Marble” for the picture. Its official designation was AS17-148-22727.)

The picture quickly resonated, and people used their own lenses to interpret it. Environmentalists saw an image of the Earth’s fragility. Historians no doubt imagined how every event they’ve ever studied has taken place somewhere on the blue marble. For all of its viewers, the picture offers a quick message: “You are here.” NASA has applied the “Blue Marble” name to other photo projects, but the original still has a special pull. Part of it might be this: We’ve gained no shortage of newer photos of our home since this shot was taken in 1972, but they’ve all been captured by satellites. (Apollo 17 was the last manned lunar mission.) This is the best, and most recent, image we’ve gotten of our planet that was taken by human hands. No one else has been far enough since to replicate it.

http://eoimages.gsfc.nasa.gov/images/imagerecords/1000/1133/AS17-148-22727_lrg.jpg