ATS III was the first unmanned spacecraft to obtain multicolor images of the earth through the Multi Color Spin Scan Camera (MCSSC) developed by Profs. Verner E. Suomi and Robert Parent at the Space Science and Engineering Center of the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Earth from the Galileo Spacecraft,
October 1989

Nearly twenty five years later the Galileo spacecraft, launched in October 1989 towards the Jupiter system, obtained the first view  of the earth from a seemingly fixed vantage point in space that enabled a view of the spinning earth. An animation of the images collected can be viewed here.

Here are links that provide more information about Earth:

• Radar Images - The Earth from JPL
• Current Weather Satellite Images - From SSEC
• Space Shuttle Images - From Johnson Space Center
• Images from the GOES-8 and GOES-9 - Antartic and Global composites

For more information on the Solar System and other planets, visit the following sites:

• The Sun and The Planets - Imaged by SOHO on May 5, 2000
• The Nine Planets - By W. Arnett
• Views of the Solar System - By Calvin Hamilton
  • Spanish
  • German
  • French
  • Portuguese
• Virtual Solar System - By National Geographic
• Science and Astronomy News - From space.com
  
• Planetary Photojournal - From NASA