The Art of
Apollo 11
In between the iconic images, there is another, quieter story
The Art of
Apollo 11
In between the iconic images, there is another, quieter story
The celebration of the Apollo 11 mission anniversary is always a story told with iconic images. Some of the pictures captured of Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins and Buzz Aldrin could be considered among the most important ever taken.
Just mentioning the mission immediately evokes the images of Aldrin in his space suit(opens in a new tab), Armstrong after his moonwalk(opens in a new tab), the crescent Earth(opens in a new tab) and Aldrin saluting the American flag(opens in a new tab).
Which makes paying tribute to the mission's amazing landing -- which took place on July 20, 1969 -- more difficult as the years go by. People have seen, and will continue to see, these momentous images, but there are hundreds more photos that can give people a subtle sense of what it was like to visit the moon for the first time.
This is just a small selection of some of the quieter moments that happened in between the historic ones.
Apollo 11 spacecraft assembly is hoisted for mating to the launch vehicle.
Training inside of a thermovacuum.
Arrival of the Apollo 11 Instrument Unit at Kennedy Space Center.
Apollo 11 after clearing the launch tower during launch.
Michael Collins in the control module.
Visual inspection of the lunar module "Eagle" after undocking.
Neil Armstrong using the onboard television camera inside the tunnel linking the command and lunar modules.
The lunar surface
The lunar module detached from the command module.
Aldrin leaving the lunar module.
Looking out of the lunar module after a successful moonwalk.
Footprints outside of the lunar module.
Looking up and seeing the Earth in the sky.
The flag on the lunar surface after taking off to link up with the command module.
The command module and astronauts waiting to be recovered after re-entry.
-
Photographs
NASA
-
Photo Editor
Dustin Drankoski
-
Assistant Science Editor
Miriam Kramer