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New View of Earth

This global image of the Earth was taken by NASA's Messenger spacecraft on August 2, 2005 as it flew past the planet on its journey to Mercury. It shows the continent of South America in the center of the image. The western shore of Africa is visible near the top. The Messenger spacecraft flies past the Earth to get a gravity assist to increase its speed as it moves ever closer to its planned orbit of the planet Mercury in March of 2011.