We all know what our planet looks like from space, a blue marble hanging in front of a
blanket of darkness. But it wasn't so long ago, that people had no idea what the Earth
looked like. Indirect evidence of Earths spherical shape
has existed for a long time, but photographic proof only came in 1931, less than 100 years
ago. This is the first-ever known photograph that
shows the curvature of the Earth from 21,000 feet, or 6,400 metres above Argentina. You
can see the city, Villa Mercedes beneath, while the Andes Mountains loom in the distance
well below the visible horizon, a phenomenon that only occurs because of the Earths curvature,
proving that it is not flat. Just a few years after this photo, in 1935,
captain Stevens and captain Orvil A Anderson took the first photograph from a high altitude
balloon, setting a then-world record and revealing what the Earth looks like from approximately
72 thousand feet, or 22 thousand metres above South Dakota.
These historic moments gave the world a glimpse of our magnificent planet, but it wasn't until
scientists started experimenting with rockets, that humanity got to see how beautiful their
home really is. d, grey lunar terrain looms below. Bill Anders,
also captured this extremely clear photo of the whole Earth, revealing South America and
the edge of Africa, all of which is being slightly shrouded by cloud cover.
In under a century we have gone from capturing grainy black and white photos of the Earths
horizon, to being able to see our blue planet in all its glory. Today it seems completely
normal that we can observe the wonders of this magnificent world from space, but, it
hasn't always been this way. We are lucky enough to have the ability to
view our home like never before, the place where we all live, where countless lives have
lived before us and where countless more will live after us. and if we have learnt anything
from these incredible photographs, then it is that Earth, our home, is a fragile place
and that we must protect it, just as it has protected us.
What an incredible journey through history and what an amazing group of photos. If you
enjoyed this video and would like to see more, then tap the like button and subscribe. Thank
you so much for watching and I'll see you next time.