This Day in History, 1966: Lunar Orbiter Photographs Earth

[mabfan]

Thirty-nine years ago today, NASA's Lunar Orbiter 1 spacecraft took the first pictures of the Earth from as far as away as the Moon's orbit. That very first photograph of the Earth taken from near the Moon can be found at this Earth Images - Distant Views page, thanks to Professor Steven Dutch of the University of Wisconsin at Green Bay. Most of us will probably recognize when we see it, I hope.

References:

• Wikipedia: Lunar Orbiter 1
  
• NSSDC Master Catalog: Lunar Orbiter 1 Spacecraft
  
• Lunar Orbiter to the Moon (1966-1967)
  
• Lunar Orbiter 1 Experiments and Data