Astronomy, Space

Two pictures show the progress of technology – first and finest picture of Earth

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Our life may be better or worse, our health may be better or worse, but one thing has definitely improved over the past decades: technology; and that’s a really big thing.

So what better way to prove the progress of technology than 2 pictures of Earth? The first was taken from the weather satellite TIROS-1, on April 1, 1960 (no, no joke). These early pictures had a great importance for meteorologists which had more information about how cloud systems were formed and they were especially interested in spiral formations associated with large storms. Also, it wasn’t until this picture that pretty much everybody was convinced that the Earth was round.

The photo from the right was taken by the space shuttle Discovery’s robotic arm during the STS-77 mission in 1996, and shows Earth laid out in splendor beneath the bright sun. Hopefully people will look at these pictures and be reminded that the Earth is interconnected and that life in its greatness must be respected and loved.

So now one can only wonder how will a picture from Earth look like 50 years from now? What do you think? Or perhaps we’ll be taking pictures of other planets? Who knows… we can just stick around and find out.

Thanks to space.com for this.

By Mihai Andrei

Andrei's background is in geophysics, and he published his first scientific paper when he was still an undergrad; now, his main focus is on how geology and geophysics can be applied to understand and protect the environment. Feeling that there is a gap between scientists and the general audience, he started ZME Science - and the results are what you see today.

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  • Mobius

    Technology has improved over time, but not your spelling:

    It’s “definitely” you illiterate fool.

  • http://www.bloxster.net/inuyasha/45944/InuYasha+Cosplay.html brendamay

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  • http://www.astronomysa.co.za Bill

    my spelling is atrocious. I am a dyslexic and only got to grade 10. at 32 I learnt to read and sill cannot read cusive writing. I read by seeing words as pictures and I think in pictures. So, I am also an illeterate fool like Sir Richard Branson, Albert Einstein, Nicolai Tesla, Isaac Newton, Winston Churchill, Adolph Hitler, Julius Caesar and Napoleon Bonaparte. Yhe only problem is, you have an IQ of a maximum of 130, shame. It is shown in your total lack of respect and the only way you can elevate yourself, is by trying to belittle others. What am I, I am a member of the International Brain Bank, I have 2 degrees in Astronomy and a degree in High Voltage, all by 38. and you, Mobius ????