From the Atlantic Missile Range in Cape Canaveral, Florida,
the U.S. unmanned spacecraft Explorer 6 atop a Thor-Able
rocket was launched into an orbit around the earth.

The spacecraft, commonly known  as the “Paddlewheel”
satellite, featured a photocell scanner that transmitted a
crude picture of the earth’s surface and cloud cover from
a distance of 17,000 miles. The photo, received in Hawaii,
took nearly 40 minutes to transmit.

The first satellite image of Earth captured by Explorer 6 on August 14, 1959.