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Lake Chad as seen from Apollo-7 in 1968
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Published March 12, 2001
The top photograph was taken by Apollo-7 crew in October 1968 during a mission to test control of a spacecraft moving into different orbits. Based on photographs from Gemini and Apollo, the estimated open water area of Lake Chad was over 22,000 km² (Mohler et al. 1989, Lullaet et al. 1991). Although not known at the time, Lake Chad would not be observed this full again from orbit—it had significantly decreased in area when it was observed by Landsat in 1972. Space Shuttle crews have continued to photograph dramatic fluctuations in Lake Chad. A sampling of this time series from 1982-2000 is shown below the Apollo image.
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The Blue Marble from Apollo 17
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Published January 31, 2001
View of the Earth as seen by the Apollo 17 crew traveling toward the moon. This translunar coast photograph extends from the Mediterranean Sea area to the Antarctica south polar ice cap. This is the first time the Apollo trajectory made it possible to photograph the south polar ice cap.
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