'Pale blue dot': NASA recalls iconic image from 1990 and the scientists behind it

The NASA Voyager had taken an image of Earth from four billion miles away as a 'Valentine's gift' on February 14, 1990. However, this year NASA not only recalled the 'spectacular shot' but also remembered Carl Sagan, the prominent planetary scientist who was one of the members of the Voyager imaging team who had the original idea to use the Voyager's cameras to image the Earth in 1981 which later followed the mission's encounter with Saturn. He later said about the famous 'pale blue dot' that “that is home. that is us”.

Celebrating the 30th anniversary of the 'pale blue dot' image, NASA commemorated the incredible capture with a release of the remastered image. Even though other planets can not be seen, but Earth appears to be a tiny blue pixel in the universe which is suspended in a sunbeam. The two scientists who were originally behind the capture by the voyager were Carl Sagan and Carolyn Porco, who managed to take the shot before it would have shut down its cameras to conserve power. 

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Voyager had taken 60 images

According to NASA's official website, the voyager had taken 60 images with an intention to produce a “solar system family portrait”. Supposedly, it was Sagan, who had really pushed for earth's image while other members of the Voyager mission had said that it wouldn't be providing any scientific data and considered it pointless. 

However, Sagan along with a few other members of the team decided that it was necessary to take the visuals to show Earth's vulnerability in the grand scheme of things. The members wanted the people back on Earth to reportedly understand that their world is just a tiny speck in the humongous space. The most dripping fact about the mission was that the voyager 1 shut it down its cameras forever after taking images for 'the family portrait' at 05:22 GMT on February 14, 1990. As of this year, the spacecraft still operates but no longer has the capability to take images. 

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