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NASA’s Lunar Orbiter 1 captured first photo of Earth from Moon
On August 23, 1966, NASA’s uncrewed Lunar Orbiter 1 captured the first photograph of Earth from the vicinity of the Moon. The image, taken from a distance of approximately 236,000 miles, shows a semicircle of Earth against the lunar landscape.
Lunar Orbiter 1 was part of a five-mission program designed to map the lunar surface and identify potential landing sites for the upcoming Apollo missions. The 385-kilogram spacecraft was built by Boeing and featured a specialized photographic package developed by Eastman-Kodak. To achieve higher resolution than contemporary television systems, the spacecraft used a system where film was developed onboard and then scanned for transmission to Earth.
In 2008, NASA released a digitally restored version of the original 1966 image, utilizing modern technology to provide a higher-resolution view than was possible during the original mission.
Entities
Boeing · Eastman-Kodak · Lunar Orbiter 1 · Moon · NASA
Claims
What the coverage asserts, and how many sources carry each claim.
- [○ 1 SOURCE] NASA released a digitally restored, higher-resolution version of the 1966 image in 2008. earthsky.org
- [● 2 SOURCES] Lunar Orbiter 1 was tasked with photographing the lunar surface to identify potential Apollo landing sites. www.drewexmachina.com · www.scientificamerican.com
- [● 3 SOURCES] NASA’s Lunar Orbiter 1 captured the first photograph of Earth from the moon. www.drewexmachina.com · earthsky.org · www.scientificamerican.com
- [○ 1 SOURCE] The Lunar Orbiter 1 spacecraft was built by Boeing with a photographic package by Eastman-Kodak. www.drewexmachina.com
- [● 3 SOURCES] The first Earth photograph from the moon was taken on August 23, 1966. www.drewexmachina.com · earthsky.org · www.scientificamerican.com