This is the first image ever of the Earth taken from the Moon. The Lunar Orbiter 1 snapped this photo in 1966. Journalists at the time proclaimed this as the "Image of the Century." This was about two years before the Apollo 8 crew snapped its more famous color cousin.
Modern technology has enabled the recovery of high resolution images from old data sources such as the Lunar Orbiter tapes. Images like this carry more than aesthetic value. By comparing these old photos to recent high definition images of the Moon, investigators can study how the Moon has been changing.
See the full-size image at NASA
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