English: A view of Southern Emisphere taken 21 750 nautical miles (40 281 kilometres) from Earth that shows the coasts of Africa. This image is in the public domain from NASA (#AS17-148-22727). It was taken by US Navy Captain Ronald E. Evans aboard Apollo 17 mission, on 7 December 1972. He used a 70mm Hasselblad camera. See also NASA's page on this photo, including confirmation that it is not protected by copyright. NASA notes: "View of the Earth as seen by the Apollo 17 crew traveling toward the Moon. This translunar coast photograph extends from the Mediterranean Sea area to the Antarctica South polar ice cap. This is the first time the Apollo trajectory made it possible to photograph the South polar ice cap. Note the heavy cloud cover in the Southern Hemisphere. Almost the entire coastline of Africa is clearly visible. The Arabian Peninsula can be seen at the Northeastern edge of Africa. The large island off the coast of Africa is the Malagasy Republic. The Asian mainland is on the horizon toward the Northeast."