The first moon landing, 50 years later

The first moon landing, 50 years later

Fifty years ago this month, Neil Armstrong became the first human to set foot on the moon. Astronauts would return five more times, and of all the things they brought back, perhaps the most enduring has nothing to do with the moon: it’s the view back toward Earth, a fragile little sphere so obviously alive against the barren backdrop of the moon.

The search for life outside our own planet has never yielded more than dusty teases of what might have been or what could be, only underscoring the value of what we have: a Goldilocks situation. As artist Tom Hammick shows here, to explore outer space is to leave behind the only home we’re likely to know.

Image: The Earth as photographed by astronauts orbiting the moon.

Source: Nasa.gov