Legend of the first Earth photo

Going back 45 years ago and following the universe scientists took the first picture of Earth. Images help Earth residents understand that we are on this small planet and we are only part of the vast solar system in the giant galaxy and in the vast universe.

The first picture of Earth was taken by a spacecraft moving around the Moon's orbit. The picture was transmitted to Earth by the Lunar Orbiter I shuttle from the United States on August 23, 1966.

In fact, photographs of Earth from space were taken with rockets earlier in the 1940s, and satellites in the 50s and 60s of the previous century. However, those pictures only capture a few parts of the Earth, not a picture of the entire planet.

In 1966 was the period when the United States prepared to bring the first man to the Moon. First of all, NASA needs to find a safe place to land. Thus, from 1966, 1967, the Lunar Orbiter space shuttle program launched unmanned spacecraft to orbit the moon to map the Moon.

'The basic idea at the time was to have photos of the high resolution moon surface to make sure there was a place to land.' Dave Williams, a scientist at NASA's Goddard Aeronautics Center, said.

That means NASA needs to map the moon quickly. And to do that, they take advantage of contemporary mass technology. Therefore, the US Department of Defense ordered Boeing and Eastman Kodak camera company to develop a spacecraft with a camera system integrated.

Lunar Orbiter 1 or "flying camera"

The Lunar Orbiter shuttle is, in fact, a 'giant flying camera'. (Photo: NASA)

The first ship named Lunar Orbiter 1 then left Earth on August 10, 1966, 92 hours later it entered the moon's orbit.

According to Mr. Friedlander, NASA multimedia expert, "it's like a flying photographic lab. The camera system alone accounts for one third of the space of the spacecraft, and the rest is only energy and the steering system. '

Lunar Orbiter's camera system includes a dual lens system, which can capture multiple images at once. A lens that captures wide-angle images of the moon at medium resolution. A second lens for remote shooting captures high-resolution images, which can clearly show details on the moon that are only 5 meters in size.

The entire camera system is capable of drying the film, washing the film and processing the film right on the spaceship while it is constantly moving around the moon between the hot and cold extremes of temperature tall from 27 to 5.920 km away from the moon's surface.

After taking pictures with giant 70mm film rolls, an electron strip will scan each washed image before transmitting them back to Earth with radio waves.

The "Earth grows" picture or is a surprising random discovery

At one point in the journey of the Lunar Orbiter 1, NASA thought about pointing the ship's lens to Earth, which meant turning the Lunar Orbiter backwards.

'That was not planned beforehand,' Williams recalls. Repositioning satellites is a potentially high risk. 'If you turn the boat around very likely it will never be able to return to Earth. You don't want to ruin a mission of an unnecessary ship '.

The famous 'Earth-growing' picture was taken from the universe by the Lunar Orbiter 1, showing the Earth growing gracefully on the Moon's horizon, 1966. (Photo: NASA)

However, American experts at NASA then argued whether they should try to turn the spacecraft backwards. In the end, they decided they wanted to take a picture of the Earth, and they would not blame anyone if something was wrong while repositioning the Moon mapping ship.

And so, on August 23, the spacecraft successfully captured a picture of the 'Earth Rise ' , the blue planet rising above the Moon's horizon.

'NASA printed the picture and they created a poster for it to give as a gift to everyone,' recalled Friedlander. 'US senators and US parliamentarians gave it as gifts to voters and officials'.

After that, many famous photos of the earth were taken, including a picture of the V marble blue (Blue marble) taken from an Apollo ship. However, the first camera system to capture the Earth was never used since the US Lunar Orbiter program.

The mission of the Lunar Orbiter has long since fallen into the past, however the first picture of the Earth captured by it continues to inspire many astronomers and astronauts.

'We are on this little planet. We are only part of the vast solar system in the giant galaxy and in the vast universe. That's why this picture is important, because this is the first time any human on earth understands this , 'Mr. Friedlander commented.