The conditions were perfect for planet watching — no light interfering, not a cloud in the sky. And as predicted, it was a beautiful Earth out that night. The Lunar Orbiter 1 was sent to photograph the lunar surface, but the conditions were perfect for some earthwatching, and the pictures did not disappoint.

On this day, August 23, 1966, the Lunar Orbiter 1 took the first photo of the earth for space. The black and white image, shot from a distance of about 236,000 miles, showed the top half of Earth, which corresponds to the Eastern portion, from Istanbul in Turkey to Cape Town in South African engulfed in nighttime darkness.

While the Lunar Orbiter had the first picture of the entire earth, the most iconic “blue marble” shot of the earth, showing the African continent under scattered clouds, came from the Apollo 17 crew six years after the Lunar Orbiter departure. With the sun shining directly on the planet, the surface and clouds were illuminated brilliantly.