Milestones in Space Photography
This is an interesting trip down history lane. Check out the photos that changed the world, because they were photos OF the world, or of other worlds.
National Geographic has a slideshow featuring the numerous photos that were the “firsts” in space photography. Considering how many photographers we actually have in space in the moment, that’s saying a lot. Here’s a few of the shots they featured..
This famous “Blue Marble” shot represents the first photograph in which Earth is in full view. The picture was taken on December 7, 1972, as the Apollo 17 crew left Earth’s orbit for the moon. With the sun at their backs, the crew had a perfectly lit view of the blue planet.
From June to October 1975, Russian space probe Venera 9 became the first craft to orbit, land on, and photograph Venus. Venera 9 consisted of two main parts that separated in orbit, an orbiter and a lander. The 5,070-pound (2,300-kilogram) orbiter relayed communication and photographed the planet in ultraviolet light. The lander entered the Venusian atmosphere using a series of parachutes and employed a special panoramic photometer to produce 180-degree panoramic photos of the surface of the planet.
Still no word on whether Dr. Phil is actually from Venus, as photographic evidence of his bald head was sketchy at best.
Here’s by far the most impressive of shots…
Taking advantage of a relatively new technology, the daguerreotype, French physicists Louis Fizeau and Leon Foucault made the first successful photographs of the sun on April 2, 1845. The original image, taken with an exposure of 1/60th of a second, was about 4.7 inches (12 centimeters) in diameter and captured several sunspots, visible in this reproduction.
Probably the only time in history where you’ll see a photo of the sun taken at 1/60th of a second. Hope he had image stabilization.
National Geographic has many more photos of the most groundbreaking images taken in space.
Now, does anyone have any alien shots?
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