“Yuri’s Planet” Is Stunning Look At Earth

Yuri Alexseyevich Gagarin was the first human to gaze upon the Grand Blue Marble we call home from space. He did so on this day way back in 1961, and in honor of the anniversary NASA has posted this picture. Damn, it’s a pretty one.

NASA:

On another April 12th, in 1961, Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Alexseyevich Gagarin  became the first human  to see planet Earth from space. Commenting on his  view from orbit  he reported, “The sky is very dark; the Earth is bluish. Everything is seen very clearly”. To celebrate, consider this recent image from the orbiting International Space Station.  A stunning view of the planet at night  from an altitude of 240 miles, it was recorded on March 28. The lights of Moscow, Russia are near picture center and one of the station’s solar panel arrays is on the left.  Aurora and  the glare of sunlight lie along the planet’s gently curving horizon.  Stars above  the horizon include the compact  Pleiades  star cluster, immersed in the auroral glow.

What a lucky son of a bitch.