DM 20100302__Nasa reveals mesmerising blue marble images of Earth
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1254834/Nasa-reveals-detailed-images-Earth.html

On a clear day.... Nasa reveals mesmerising 'blue marble' images of Earth
By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 5:01 PM on 02nd March 2010

These spectacular 'blue marble' images are the most detailed views of Earth to date.
Using a collection of satellite images, scientists painstakingly stitched together months of observations to create these montages which show the surface of the continents and oceans in stunning detail.



This mesmerising view of Earth is a montage of images taken by the Terra satellite orbiting 435miles above the planet's surface




India takes centre stage here with the vast continent of Africa curving away to the left. Images were taken every eight days to reveal land surface that might otherwise be obscured by cloud




This 'Blue Marble' image was taken by Apollo 17 astronauts on December 7, 1972. With the Sun behind them, the Earth had the appearance of a marble to the astronauts. Hence the name




'Earthrise' was taken in 1968 by astronaut William Anders during the Apollo 8 mission, which was the first manned voyage to orbit the Moon.




The image (right) from October 24, 1946, was taken at an altitude of 65 miles by a 35mm camera within a V-2 missile and showed the first pictures of Earth as seen from space. The missile which had been taken from the Germans at the end of World War II and was launched in the New Mexico desert