Delayed Friday Fun Fact – 14th August 2026

First Photos.

First Photos of Earth

The first photo of Earth from outer space, was taken way back on the 24^th October, 1946. It was taken by a DeVry 35mm Black and White film camera, mounted on top of a V-2 rocket, built using parts captured from Germany during the war, and using original parts from General Electric.

A follow-up, dedicated photo of earth from Space, would then be taken in a further flight on March 7th, 1947.

A final panoramic image would be taken on July 26th, 1948.

First colour photos of Earth.

The first colour photo of Earth from space would be taken on October 5th, 1954, using an Aerobee Sounding Rocket. The composite consisted of 117 images taken from an altitude of 100 miles, or 160km.

The first photo and colour photo of Earth taken by a human astronaut would be taken by a crew member of Apollo 8 on December 21st 1968, at a distance of 30,000km.

First Photo Taken of Earth by a Human.

Pictured Left is one of the first photos ever taken of the planet Earth, by a human. John Glenn, in the Friendship 7 spacecraft, launched by the Mercury Atlas rocket, in February of 1962. This was only mere months after Yuri Gagarin, from the Soviet Union, would be the first human in space. The photo shows a portion of the Earth’s disk and clouds, taken over the Indian Ocean.

First Photo of a Spacewalk

Pictured right, the first spacewalk ever conducted was done on the 3rd June, 1965. Astronaut Edward H. White II, pilot on the Gemini-Titan IV (GT-4) spaceflight, is pictured attached to a 25m tether, and taken by his co-pilot, James McDivitt. Unfortunately, Ed White would be one of three astronauts lost in the Apollo 1 launch-pad fire.

First Photos of Earth from the Moon

The first photo of the Earth taken from the moon was taken by a probe called Surveyor 3, which was a lunar lander, and was taken on April 30th, 1967.

William Anders of Apollo 8 took this photo and the adjacent one during their flyby of the moon on Christmas Eve, 1968. It would be a fundamental Earth-rise photo until one taken by Artemis II astronauts in April, 2026.

First Photo of Another Galaxy

The first photo taken of the Andromeda galaxy (also being the first photo taken of another Galaxy), was taken by Astronomer Isaac Roberts, on the 29th of December 1888. It was taken by him using a long exposure plate with his 20in reflector telescope. At the time, it was thought to be a Nebula, but later proven to be a galaxy.

First Photo of the Venetian Surface

The first photo of Venus’ surface was taken on October 22nd, 1975, by the Soviet Venera 9 Lander. Venera 9 would be the first probe to take a photo from the surface of another planet. It would only last 53 minutes before succumbing to Venus’ intense pressure and heat. The pressure it recorded at the surface was 90 bar (or around 90-92 earth atmospheres). This is equivalent to being 900 – 1000m underwater on Earth. It recorded the temperature of Venus to be a sweltering 455-465^oC

First photo taken from the Surface of Mars.

On July 20th, 1976, the Viking 1 lander would take this image, and is the first photo ever taken from the Martian surface.

First direct photo taken of a black hole.

The first direct photo of another black hole was taken on April 10th, 2019, using radio telescopes. The image was taken of the supermassive black hole at the center of the distant galaxy, Messier 87.
It is located approximately 55 million light-years away.

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