July 21, 2009 marks the 40th anniversary of the lunar landing of Apollo 11 with the first human beings to walk on Earth's nearest natural satellite. Neil Alden Armstrong (Commander), Edward Eugene Aldrin, Jr (lunar module pilot) landed in the lunar module while Michael Collins (command module pilot) remained in orbit in the Command Module. Many of the photographic images from that first landing have now become historical and iconic in their own right, none less than "Earthrise" (above) which shows the distant little blue planet which is home as seen from the moon.
As the planet now confronts the challenges of the environment, climate change and declining ecosystems, the image taken from Apollo 11 and the realisation of the fragility and smallness of the Planet Earth which the astronauts felt at the time, appears all the more prescient.
