Do you remember the first time you got your picture clicked? Probably not. You must have been very small to remember that, but nevertheless, it was a very special moment, something you will cherish for the rest of your life. Similarly, the first-ever picture of the Earth was captured on October 24, 1946, and thanks to the V-2 rocket that made this special moment possible.
While these pictures are in black and white just like the old photos we all have with grainy black and white background, which compared to the hi-tech cameras we have now might not seem all that impressive, but in 1946 it was a huge deal, as it was the first time anyone would ever see the Earth from space.
Equipped With 35- millimeter Motion Picture Camera
The V-2 rocket was launched from the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico and was equipped with a 35-millimeter motion picture camera which was capturing a new frame every second and a half. The rocket had attained an altitude of 65 miles before it started descending towards earth.
Unlike the cameras we have for personal use that we get to keep, both the rocket and the camera aboard were destroyed as they made contact with earth after falling from the sky at an approximate speed of 340 mph. The scientists then had to take an expedition into the new Mexico dessert to retrieve the film.
How The Plan To Take The First Photo From Space Came Into Action
A committee was established, bringing together military and civilian scientists to evaluate proposals for payloads on the reassembled V-2 rockets. By January 1946, the U.S. Army Ordnance Corps reached out to civilian experts to collaborate on a space research initiative utilizing the V-2 technology. The committee initially went by the name “V2 Rocket Panel,” later evolving into the “V2 Upper Atmosphere Research Panel,” and ultimately becoming the “Upper Atmosphere Rocket Research Panel.”
This collaboration led to a diverse range of experiments conducted with the V-2 rockets, laying the groundwork for future American manned space exploration. Various devices were launched to gather air samples at different altitudes, helping scientists determine atmospheric pressures and identify the gases present. Additionally, some instruments were designed to measure cosmic radiation levels, contributing valuable data to the field of atmospheric and space science.
About the V-2 rocket, a destructive past
The V-2 Rocket or “Vergeltungswaffe 2” in German which translates to “Vengeance Weapon 2”, happens to be the world’s first long-range guided ballistic missile. Developed during World War 2 the rocket operated on a liquid propellent engine and was conceptualized in the then Nazi Germany.
Its primary task was to carry out offensive against the Allied bombings on German soil. Another interesting fact to note is that the V-2 rocket became the first artificial object ever to travel into space by crossing the Kármán line (edge of space) with a vertical launch on 2oth June 1944. These rockets had the capacity to attain supersonic speeds and could strike without any audible warning.
While the V-2 rocket had a destructive past and was essentially a deadly weapon, but, in post-war times a competition began to brew between the USA and USSR to get their hands on as many -2 rockets as possible. After the war ended German engineers relocated to the US, USSR, France, and the United Kingdom and re-engineered the rockets for military and civilian purposes. It also served as a foundation for space launchers that came into use later. Later in 1946, the rocket’s capacity was also put to use to carry out space exploration and research missions.
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