On August 23, 1966 Lunar Orbiter I took the first ever image of the Earth from space. Lunar Orbiter 1 was a robotic spacecraft whose mission was to photograph the smooth areas of the Moon’s surface to find safe landing sites for the Surveyor and Apollo missions.
Because the Moon lacks both significant atmosphere and weather which cause erosion, its surface is very uneven and mainly affected by volcanic activity and meteorite impact.
The Orbiter took a total of 42 high-resolution and 187 medium-resolution frames covering more than 5 million square kilometers of the Moon’s surface.
It also took the world’s first view of Earth taken by a spacecraft. The photo was transmitted to Earth by the United States Lunar Orbiter I and received at the NASA tracking station at Robledo De Chavela near Madrid, Spain.
This crescent of the Earth was photographed August 23, 1966 at 16:35 GMT when the spacecraft was on its 16th orbit and just about to pass behind the Moon.
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365 Holidays a Year 