First-Ever View of Earth from Space

First View of Earth from Space. Photo: Public Domain

On October 24, 1946, a V-2 rocket was launched from the U.S. Army White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico. A 35 mm movie camera on the rocket captured images every 1½ seconds. It reached an altitude of 65 miles (105 km) before crashing back to Earth. Although destroyed on impact, the camera's film cassette did survive. This grainy photo was on that roll of film.