our home planet peeking out beyond a cratered lunar landscape. The second photograph, below, shows the spectacular solar eclipse to which the astronauts were treated as the Moon blocked out the Sun. Nasa did not say which of the astronauts, who are on their return journey to Earth after the fly-by, took the photographs. The Earthset photo carried echoes of the famous Earthrise photograph taken by Bill Anders aboard Apollo 8 in 1968 in the moon fly-by that preceded the historic first human landing the following year. The view of a vulnerable blue planet against the background of the depths of space is still seen as one of the most iconic environmental photographs ever taken. The astronauts took the photos during a six-hour flyby, including a period of radio silence when their capsule was behind the Moon. (BBC)