SPACE.com wishes
all its readers a great Earth Day with two photos that show how far mankind has
come while riding Spaceship Earth.
The left
photo of Earth was the first taken from the weather satellite TIROS-1, on April 1, 1960. Early photos provided
meteorologists with new information on cloud systems, particularly spiral
formations associated with large storms. The photo also displays the curvature
of the globe.
The right photo
was taken from behind space shuttle Discovery's robotic arm during the STS-77
mission in 1996, and shows Earth laid out in splendor beneath the bright sun. Such
images may serve to remind people that we live in an increasingly
interconnected global society, and that Earth remains a precious and
still-unique drop of life in the vast unknown.
— NASA and SPACE.com Staff
Credit: NASA
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