The improbable story of NASA's famed Earthrise photo

The crew was supposed to take pictures of rocks

Image: NASA

In its early days, photography was, at best, a second thought at NASA. John Glenn had to convince NASA to let him take a camera with him on his historic mission to orbit the Earth aboard Friendship 7. Six years later, Apollo 8 carried a Hasselblad 500EL stripped down to save weight and equipped with customized film, lubricants, and lenses. Th…