NASA's Apollo Archive: 10 More Breathtaking Images
With more than 8,000 photographs of NASA's various Apollo missions released earlier this month, who could resist looking through the archive a second time?
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By now you've undoubtedly seen the photos collected by Kipp Teague as part of a companion website to his "Contact Light" personal retrospective on Project Apollo.
Teague's efforts have given space enthusiasts access to more than 8,400 new photos of NASA's Apollo missions -- InformationWeek showed you our 10 personal favorites earlier this month -- but with so many photos to choose from, how could we resist in bringing you a second glance at mankind’s most extraordinary achievement?
The mission to the moon, launched by President John F. Kennedy in 1961, was an audacious proposal, one with which the general public lost interest in following the historic landing of Apollo 11.
After decades, the endeavor still captivates the imagination, thanks in a large part to the brave individuals who made the 240,000-mile journey.
[Check our previous look at NASA's Apollo missions through the years.]
In the process, they gathered a dazzling array of photographic memories that put your vacation photos to shame.
These professional space travelers and amateur photographers managed to capture a world -- and an expedition -- that almost boggles the mind.
The images do more justice to the mission than any number of factoids or statistics could ever hope to achieve. The photos essential imperfections in contrast, focus and framing illustrate the indelible human nature of space exploration.
One may wonder how the Moon and the Earth would look as photographed by Annie Leibovitz, Robert Frank, or even Robert Mapplethorpe, but as your humble curator, might we suggest that the images presented here project a grandeur and frailty that comes from a place so far, and so close, to home.
(All images courtesy of NASA)
Taken during the last mission to the moon, this ominous image looms large -- a shadowy figure on the surface, suspended between a powdery surface and the black expanse of space. Gene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt spent just over three days on the lunar surface in the Taurus-Littrow valley.
The Earth appears over the surface of the Moon. While it may lack the iconic nature of other Earthrise photos, it helps us to remember how small and fragile our home if, shown in sharp relief against the black expanse of the universe.
On his third and last spaceflight, Gene Cernan was captured taking a zero gravity space shave. Apollo 17 was also to be the last mission to the Moon. Cernan was the last man on the Moon, since he was the last to re-enter the Lunar Module Challenger after the mission's third and final extravehicular activity (EVA).
Apollo 9 was the third manned mission in the Apollo program. It never made it to the Moon. Its primary purpose was to test several aspects critical to landing on the Moon, including the lunar module (LM) engines, backpack life support systems, navigation systems, and docking maneuvers. The alien-like LM was to land on the Moon during the Apollo 11 mission.
This shot, taken from the second Moon landing -- Apollo 12 -- gives us a sense of the massive body that seems so small from home. The landing site for the mission was located in the southeastern portion of the Ocean of Storms, with the principle objective to determine whether a targeting landing on the lunar surface was possible.
It's easy to forget the scale of the spacecraft that propelled the Apollo crew members onto the Moon, but this photo, most likely taken by Buzz Aldrin, the second man to walk on the lunar surface, suggests the magnitude of the endeavor: This was the first manned mission to the Moon.
This photo from the Apollo 17 mission highlights a massive impact crater on the surface of the Moon. There are estimated to be roughly 300,000 craters wider than half a mile on the Moon's near side alone, formed from asteroids slamming into the lunar surface.
This photo depicts the docking of the Command/Service Module (CSM) and the Lunar Module (LM). Apollo 17 broke several records set by previous flights, including the longest manned lunar landing flight, the longest total lunar surface extravehicular activities, the largest lunar sample return, and the longest time in lunar orbit.
This shot from the last mission to the Moon -- Apollo 17 -- showcases the Taurus-Littrow lunar valley. The landing site was chosen with the objectives of sampling highland material and young volcanic material in the same location.
This shot from the last mission to the Moon -- Apollo 17 -- showcases the Taurus-Littrow lunar valley. The landing site was chosen with the objectives of sampling highland material and young volcanic material in the same location.
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