Before the age of ultra-high-definition telescopes and deep-space probes dawned, early space photography was still able to capture the universe in its seemingly infinitely complex beauty, as it had never been seen before.
From the first-ever images of Earth taken from orbit to the ultimate historic Apollo mission photos, snapshots of the cosmos are sure to leave you dazzled.
1. A commemorative plaque placed on the moon by the Apollo 15 crew to posthumously honor 14 NASA astronauts and USSR cosmonauts.
A powerful reminder, indeed.
2. Judy Sullivan, first woman engineer in Spacecraft Operations at NASA, monitoring the biomedical sensors of the astronauts during the Apollo 11 mission.
Judy was fully locked in.
3. Apollo 13 astronauts Fred W. Haise, Jr., James A. Lovell Jr., and John L. Swigert Jr step aboard the U.S.S. Iwo Jima following splashdown and recovery in the South Pacific.
What a strapping crew of space cowboys.
4. The Earth as seen from the Apollo 11 Lunar Module.
Looks like you could truly hold it in the palm of your hand.
5. Apollo Astronaut Reunion in August 22, 1978
Those reunions must’ve been something special.
6. Apollo 16 astronauts train for lunar landing mission.
Those training exercises were absolutely essential.
7. Harrison H. Schmitt of the Apollo 17 mission investigates a large lunar boulder with a rover behind it.
That is one enormous space rock.
8. A teary-eyed Neil Armstrong photographed by Buzz Aldrin shortly after walking on the moon, 1969
Looking especially thrilled.
9. The Fastest Woman Alive, Mercury Astronaut trainee Betty Skelton, 1959
Now that’s the kind of title you love to hold.
10. Astronaut Eugene Cernan pilots the Lunar Rover during the Apollo 17 mission, 1972
That must’ve been a true blast.
11. Astronaut Harrison Schmitt works near the Lunar Roving Vehicle during the third Apollo 17 extravehicular activity
Seems like it’d be a pretty fun shift to work through.
12. Apollo 1 crew practicing a water landing in 1966
No better way to keep up with your practice landings.
13. Apollo 11 astronauts Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins and Buzz Aldrin enjoy a pre-launch breakfast at the NASA Kennedy Space Centre
You’ve got to keep fueled up.
14. 50 years ago today, at the end of their second EVA (extravehicular activity), the Apollo 15 astronauts set up an American flag on the Moon in 1971
Talk about a massive step for humankind.
15. The ill-fated crew of Apollo I pose for a photo parody of their official crew portrait after their concerns regarding the unsafe nature of the pod are not addressed, 1967
They nailed it.
16. Nixon greets Apollo 11 astronauts after they returned to Earth, as they quarantine for “extraterrestrial pathogens”
You don’t want to bring back those extraterrestrial pathogens.
17. Margaret Hamilton, NASA’s lead developer for the Apollo program, stands next to all the code she wrote by hand that took humanity to the moon in 1969
What a legend.
18. Two astronauts laugh with Pad Leader Gunther Wendt at Kennedy Space Center a few hours before the launch of Apollo 14
It was essential to keep those spirits up for the team.
19. Astronaut Dave Scott looks at Earth from the Apollo 9 Command Module in March 1969
What a view.
20. Apollo 13 astronaut Swigert, with the rig improvised to scrub CO2 from the spacecraft’s atmosphere
That’s a handy-looking device.
