1959-12-01 USA Earth Film Project

An Earth Film Project launch cover from "Goldcraft", postmarked at Port Canaveral with a hand cancel on December 1, 1959.

This cover commemorates a Thor DM-18A (Vehicle 254) mission that carried a movie camera to high altitude to obtain some of the first color photographs of Earth from space. The camera and recovery capsule subsequently descended over the Atlantic and were recovered on Mayaguana Island in the Bahamas in February 1960, about 1,700 miles from Cape Canaveral. The experiment was an early demonstration of rocket-borne Earth photography and an important precursor to the more advanced Earth-observation and photographic reconnaissance systems that followed.

One notable example is the use of film cameras aboard reconnaissance satellites or space missions, such as the Corona program in the 1960s, which involved launching satellites to capture images of the Earth and its features. These films were then recovered from space for analysis. The goal of such projects is to gather valuable data about Earth's geography, climate, and human activities, providing insights for scientists, policymakers, and the general public.

(Reference from Mayaguana Military Point of Landing)