From the Moon to Earth: The first photo taken 59 years ago

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On August 23, 1966, NASA took the first photograph of Earth from lunar orbit using the unmanned Lunar Orbiter 1 probe. This spacecraft was launched on August 10, 1966, with a very specific mission: to photograph soft areas of the lunar surface to select and verify safe landing sites for the Surveyor and Apollo missions.

The first photograph of the Earth was taken from lunar orbit

However, fate has something much more in store. Photographing the Earth was not part of the original mission and was not even considered until the spacecraft was in space. It was a spontaneous decision by the management team that led to the creation of one of the most iconic images in the history of space exploration.

The photo was taken from a distance of approximately 380,000 kilometers and captured half of the Earth, from Istanbul to Cape Town, with the eastern areas flooded at night. Visit. A F R I N I K . C O M . For the full articles . Although no details of the Earth’s surface were visible at the time of the 1966 image, its emotional and scientific impact was instant and indelible.

Lunar Orbiter 1 was equipped with a sophisticated 68-kilogram Eastman Kodak imaging system with wide-angle lenses and the unique ability to develop film, scan images, and send them to Earth. It is noteworthy that this camera was originally developed by the US National Intelligence Agency (NRO) and was previously used on the Samos E-1 reconnaissance satellite.

The original image could not be restored in full resolution from the stored mission data. It wasn’t until 2008 that the Lunar Orbiter Image Recovery Project (LOIRP) managed to restore and significantly improve the quality of this historic photograph, revealing details that had remained hidden for more than four decades.

The Lunar Orbiter 1 mission ended on October 29, 1966, when it was intentionally smashed against the Moon’s surface so as not to interfere with future missions. During its operation, the spacecraft has completed its main tasks, taking a total of 205 images of the Earth’s natural satellite.