Today in 1977, NASA's Voyager 1 took the first long-distance photo of the Earth and Moon together. The Voyager 1 launched on September 5, 1977 ans as of this writing still remains operational. It is expected to continue gathering data until the year 2025.
Today in 1972, the Earth Resources Technology Satellite 1 (later renamed Landsat 1) was launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base in CA. The also marked the beginning of the Landsat program, which is still in effect today. The focus of Landsat is to gather information about Earth, such as its agriculture, geology, oceanography, and meteorology. The most recent launch, Landsat 8, took place in February 2013. Landsat 9 is already being developed and is planned to be launched in December 2020. Image Credit: NASA