1947: First images of Earth’s cloud cover from 100 miles in space

In 1947, before Sputnik ushered in the space age, scientists conducting the Small Steps Program in New Mexico pieced together these first images of Earth taken by a camera on a V-2 rocket more than 100 miles in space. Prior to the V-2 rocket launches, the highest point for making Earth images was 13.7 miles from the Explorer II balloon in 1935.