[CommenterPerson]

Why didn't NASA or the news agencies rotate the image so North is up? and slightly to the right. That would make Africa instantly recognizable as that's how maps are imprinted in our brains.

There is no "up" in space, so that wouldn't be editing the image I feel. The camera just happened to be oriented "upside down".

[getnormality]

I was thinking the same thing, but then I decided to embrace the frustration of the image. It's reminding us that the pictures we have in our heads are kind of fragile. They don't prepare us for a live encounter with Earth from some random angle in space.

[thsbrown]

This is kind of profound.

[s4i]

I personally prefer to view it in the same orientation the photographer saw it in their viewfinder. Makes me feel more like I’m inside the vessle looking at the planet.

[mr_toad]

If you live in the southern hemisphere most pictures of the Moon that you see online look upside down compared to ones that you take yourself.

[spopejoy]

I asked a different question in my mind, who says it "appears to us as upside down"? I would think if you lived in Patagonia, the south pole is "up".