First View of Earth from Space

First photo from space, 1946, originally uploaded by www.PastFinder.de.

The first view of the Earth as seen from space, from a camera mounted on a captured German V-2 rocket, launched October 24, 1946 at White Sands, USA.

Space Station

Detail of the Space Station in earth orbit, as proposed by Dr. Wernher von Braun

The Space Station with a space taxi just leaving its landing berth . . . the two men on the outside of the station are secured by lines hooked to holding rings which are provided for this purpose. These two men follow the rotation of the Space Station and if not fastened to it would be thrown off tangentially.

The Space Station is 1075 miles above the Pacific Ocean, above a point 800 miles south bu east of the Galapagos Islands. The visual angle of the picture is 50 degrees, the horizon 3000 miles away, and the area of the picture about 4 million square miles . . . The area that would be visible from the station at any moment is a circle with a diameter of 6000 miles, or about 29 million square miles.

painting by Chesley Bonestell
from Across the Space Frontier
edited by Cornelius Ryan
1952

Arrival of the Supply Ship

Detail of the arrival of a supply ship, as propased by Dr. Wernher von Braun, to the earth-orbiting Space Station

The Third Stage of one of the rocket ships which originally established the station; next to the Third Stage, one of the small space taxis; in the forground another space taxi near the astronomical observatory . . . The men in space suits near the Third Stage and near the Observatory are floating freely.

painting by Chesley Bonestell
from Across the Space Frontier
edited by Cornelius Ryan
1952