The First Photograph Taken From Outer Space

This black-and-white image might not look like much, but it represent the first step towards the creation of a new field of photography. What looks like random patches of black, grey and white are actually the earth's horizon as seen from above the planet's atmosphere. This is actually the first photograph ever taken from outer space.

The first picture from space was taken on October 24, 1946 above the New Mexico desert, and was the first frame captured by a motion picture camera snapping photos every 1.5 seconds. Unlike later images, this one was taken from a camera strapped to a V-2 rocket which flew to an altitude of around 65 miles (105 kilometers) above sea level for a few minutes before crashing back down to Earth. The flight might not seem substantial, but it produced images higher than previous attempts with air balloons.

This sub-orbital milestone would be overtaken 15 years later with the first photographs taken from an orbiting satellite. Still, it represents a huge leap into new territory for photography and space exploration. This article from the Smithsonian Air and Space Magazine goes into more detail about the historic flight. There are plenty more out-of-this-world images in the space section of this blog. To see how far space photography has come since 1946, check out Michael Benson's Planetfall series.

Michael Benson: Planetfall and the Edge of Space

Images of spacemen floating in the middle of nowhere can be quite awe-inspiring, but even barren outer landscapes can illicit the same response. Outer space offers hundred of thousands of great photo possibilities, but it's actually finding great images that's the tricky part. Fortunately, Michael Benson has saved everyone else plenty of time and trouble by going through the best photographs currently available on the edge of space, and collecting them in his book, Planetfall.

Michael Benson is an artist and photojournalist who is well-known for his publications and exhibitions on outer space. He has previously released two books filled with photographs on the subject, Beyond and Far Out. His latest book, Planetfall, is a continuation of this off-planet story. Unlike the usual images of space, Benson's photographs look like 100 percent computer-generated imagery. They are in fact all real, only that they have been digitally edited to make them look larger than life.

Benson's love affair with space began when he was small, collecting trading cards with outer space related images, and then later on watching the film 2001: A Space Odyssey. This fascination with everything off-earth has led to his becoming a journalist and photographer, but his current work focuses more on the best of photography and art to produce the images of Planetfall, a term he describes as "the moment when a view comes off the edge of a planet."

As anyone might have guessed, none of these images were taken by Benson himself. Rather, the original pictures were taken by robot satellites and spacecrafts launched by NASA, ESA (European Space Agency), JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency), and the like. Fortunately, these agencies provide these photographs for free to the public. Unfortunately, most of the original images resemble nothing like the fantastic pictures seen here.

Instead, the original RAW images are usually grainy, black-and-white, pictures that look nothing like these color pictures. In order to get a good picture, Benson has to scroll through the public images and find a good subject that has at least two images of it, one taken with a red filter and another with a blue filter. For the best results, three images are required, with the other taken with a green filter. Benson then makes sure that all images align perfectly before applying a little Photoshop magic. With a little more tweaking, the results literally look out of this world.

In most cases, Benson acts as an artist, combining raw data files in order to create majestic visual artworks. In others, he acts like an editor, sifting through hundreds of good images to find the best ones. In all cases, he acts as a responsible photographer, only choosing the best out of all the tens of thousands of images available online. Any other hobbyist would have quit in the first few hours, but Benson's passion led him to uncover true gems of space photography.

In all cases, Benson's images are the perfect marriage of science and art, showing how truly beautiful and still be mysterious outer space is, and even presenting a different view of Earth itself.

Michael Benson currently doesn't have a website, but his images can be found in the book, Planetfall: New Solar System Visions. His previous works Beyond: A Solar System Voyage and Far Out: A Space-Time Chronicle are still available and offer a glimpse of the edge of space. For more outer space images, check out the Space category of this blog.

Bruce McCandless: Floating Astronaut in Space

NASA has had a great knack for producing awe-inspiring images. In its history of space exploration, the most jaw-dropping photographs are usually those that involve stars and galaxies thousands of light-years away. A few other great images, however, are much closer to home. In this iconic image of a lonely spaceman stuck between earth and nothingness, NASA was able to successfully perform a free spacewalk for the very first time. This is the story of Bruce McCandless and the photograph of the floating astronaut in space.

The flying spaceman in the picture is Captain Bruce McCandless II, credited for having made the first untethered free flight in space. Previously, and even now, any Extra-Vehicular Activities (EVAs) performed by astronauts were done so with a tether. Spacewalks were thus limited to the length of the tether. With the new Manned Maneuvering Unit (MMU), spacewalks could be performed untethered.

The free flight was done on February 12, 1984 with the nitrogen jet backpack. McCandless traveled some 320 feet away from the space shuttle Challenger, farther than any astronaut had attempted ever before. The resulting view showed a small astronaut against the blackness of space and the pale blues and whites of the earth.

Check out NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day or their Multimedia Section for more details on Bruce McCandless and the floating astronaut in space image. For more NASA and Space related images, check out previous posts under this category.

Earthrise: A Christmas Postcard from Apollo 8

It's not Christmas Day yet, but this fantastic image is fit be shared on any season or occasion, although it has more weight on this day. The picture, called Earthrise, is by itself breathtaking enough to be featured on this blog, but it's doubly special because of the occasion on which it was taken by the crew of Apollo 8.

Earthrise was photographed by Apollo 8 astronaut William Anders on December 24, 1968. The crew was supposed to orbit the Moon as part of its mission (which it did ten times), but with all the planning and monitoring that went into the mission, they didn't expect the scene that would greet them as they made their turn out of the darkness of the Moon.

As the spacecraft made its turn, the astronauts were greeted by the bright, blue Earth against the grey horizon of the Moon and the black emptiness of Space, prompting mission commander Frank Borman to exclaim, "Oh my God! Look at that picture over there! Here's the Earth coming up. Wow, is that pretty." While Command Module Pilot James Lovell steered the spacecraft, Borman and Anders took several black-and-white and color photos of the scene unfolding before their eyes, but it was Anders' color shot that became the definitive Earthrise. Later on, the crew would give their Christmas Eve broadcast, watched or heard by a billion humans back on their home planet.

The original image shows the Earth peeking out to the left of the Moon's horizon on the right (as can be seen below). This was the view that greeted the Apollo 8 astronauts on that fateful day. The more popular picture, however, shows the Earthrise in the landscape position (as can be seen in the header photo above).

To all blog readers, Merry Christmas! Or if you prefer, Happy Holidays! Or if you're not into that kind of stuff, have a great weekend! More information on the Earthrise image can be found on the Great Images of NASA website and NASA multimedia page. You can also listen to the original broadcast (mp3 link) of the Apollo 8 crew as they made this historic Christmas Eve postcard image.

The Voyager Golden Record: Images of Earth as Seen by Extraterrestrials

Last week's post on what the Earth looks like during an eclipse garnered a lot of Ooohs and Aaahs in the comments because of the unusual view it provided of the Earth. But what kind of view would extraterrestrials find of this planet? Fortunately for them, they won't have to travel too far to find pictures of Earth and her inhabitants as they can just look at the images preserved on the Voyager Golden Record.

The Voyager Golden Record is the famous vinyl record that was sent out to space a few decades ago in the hopes of it encountering an alien civilization along its voyage. It is notable for its collection of pictures and sounds that were meticulously selected to represent the Earth and its inhabitants as of its creation. In essence, the recording is the sum total of humanity and their home.

There are two golden records, actually gold-plated copper records, one on board each of the Voyager spacecrafts launched in 1977. Both spacecrafts are on a trajectory to reach interstellar space (or space outside of the solar system), with Voyager 1 being the most distant man-made object from Earth.

The contents of the record include over 116 images of people in action as well as features of the Earth and solar system, along with spoken greetings in 55 languages and different sound clips of the both natural and manmade objects. It also includes 90-minutes of music from different countries and genres, with the baroque composer Johann Sebastian Bach being the most represented with three of his concertos and solo pieces included.

The NASA committee in-charge of selecting the record's contents was chaired by Carl Sagan and included images that they believed were descriptive of this planet. They include pictures of the planets along with illustrations of the human anatomy and the structure of the DNA. They also included some eclectic choices that provide an interesting look at the day-to-day life of humans.

Photographs included in the vinyl include the heights of humanity's technological advances such as an X-ray of a hand to man's physical prowess like the multiple exposure image of a gymnast on a balance beam to more artistic views of the planet such as Ansel Adams' 1942 black-and-white photograph of the Tetons and the Snake River. However, they also included more mundane activities like a simultaneous demonstration of people licking, eating and drinking, and even an image of someone shopping in a supermarket.

Why would Carl Sagan's committee choose such commonplace events such as the two mentioned above?. Maybe after such a display of technological and artistic prowess, they didn't want to scare away the aliens? Or maybe they realized that it's the little things that make humanity what it is today? Whatever the reason behind their selection, the 100 or so images provide viewers with an opportunity to reflect about themselves and maybe help people realize that eating grapes in a grocery store is just as human as performing a space walk in an astronaut' suit.

The NASA JPL website has more information about the Voyager Golden Record. There's also this website with all of the images, sounds, greetings and music on the record. Another website, the Golden Record Revisited, provides an updated account of what kind of images of Earth extraterrestrials would see if the spacecrafts were launched today. While they're now relative hard to find, look for Murmurs of Earth: The Voyager Intersteller Record or Murmurs of Earth the Voyager Interstellar Record Commemorative Edition, as they contain the complete images and sounds of the recording. You could also try the remix in Scrambles of Earth: Voyager Interstellar Record Re. Aside from the images, you should definitely listen to the music of the Voyager Golden Record with this Youtube playlist.

What does the Earth look like during a solar eclipse?

A few days ago on December 10, 2011, a total lunar eclipse took place that was fully visible to people in most of Asia and Oceana, and partially visible to those in Europe and North America. Eclipses, both solar and lunar, are spectacular events that still evoke wonder in the eyes of people on Earth, but wouldn't it be equally fascinating to see what the Earth looks like during an eclipse like this?

An eclipse happens when the view of one astronomical object is obscured, either because another body passes between it and the viewer, or it passes into the shadow of another body. In a lunar eclipse, the Moon passes directly behind the Earth, which means it is unable to reflect the Sun's rays to the Earth. In a solar eclipse, the Moon passes between the Earth and Sun, obscuring the view.

The Sun is 400 times bigger than the moon, but it is also 400 times farther away from Earth. This amazing coincidence makes it possible for the disc of the Soon to totally obscure the disk of the Sun during a solar eclipse. While the event looks stunning on Earth, what does it look like in Space?

These amazing images show that the view from space is equally as spectacular. In the first photograph taken of the August 11, 1999 solar eclipse, the moon casts its shadow somewhere over Europe. In the second one as seen from the International Space Station, parts of Turkey and Cyprus are obscured during the late morning of March 29, 2006.

The last two show different perspectives of the July 23, 2009 solar eclipse. The moon blocked out the whole of Taiwan for six minutes, making it the longest solar eclipse of the century.

If you want to see more images of what the Earth looks like during a solar eclipse, check out the Big Picture Blog. Be sure to visit NASA's eclipse website for details on past and future events. The next annular eclipse (one where the Moon appears slightly smaller than the Sun) will happen on May 20, 2012, and the next total solar eclipse will fall on November 13, 2012.