Apollos 11, 12, 14, 15, 16, and 17 all successfully delivered men to the Moon between the summer of ’69 and December 1972 (and yes, they most certainly did happen) but do you know where on the lunar surface they each landed? This awesome vintage map from NASA points each site out (and is a…
Tag: Apollo
This Day in Space History: One Small Step
Note: Reposted/updated article from 2012. “That’s one small step for a man… one giant leap for mankind.” I’m not sure what else need be said about the significance of what happened on this day in 1969, 44 years ago… it was a shining moment in human history, and will be — should be — remembered…
The Tragedy of Apollo 1
Today marks the 46th anniversary of one of the worst tragedies to befall NASA and human spaceflight: the fire that broke out in the Apollo 204 (later renamed Apollo 1) command module during a test exercise at Kennedy Space Center in 1967, claiming the lives of primary crew astronauts Virgil “Gus” Grissom, Ed White, and…
Curiosity Leaves its “Bootprint”
In an image reminiscent of the historical photo of Buzz Aldrin’s boot print in the lunar soil, Curiosity leaves a wheel scuff in a wind-formed ripple at a site called “Rocknest”. The rover’s right Navigation camera took this image of the scuff mark on the mission’s 57th Martian day, or sol (Oct. 3, 2012). For…
Neil Armstrong Buried at Sea
Earlier today, Friday, September 14, 2012, Neil A. Armstrong’s burial at sea service was held aboard the USS Philippine Sea in the Atlantic. The first man to walk on the Moon during the 1969 Apollo 11 mission, Armstrong passed away on Saturday, August 25. He was 82. An icon of exploration for all of humanity, he will…
President Obama Declares Flags Fly Half-Staff for Neil
Today the White House issued a proclamation that all U.S. flags are to be flown at half staff “as a mark of respect for the memory of Neil Armstrong” on the day of his burial. So, I made a little edit to an image of the flag planted by Armstrong and Aldrin at the Apollo…
First Man on the Moon Neil Armstrong Passes Away at 82
“In my own view, the important achievement of Apollo was a demonstration that humanity is not forever chained to this planet, and our visions go rather further than that, and our opportunities are unlimited.” — Neil A. Armstrong Today we mourn the loss of a true hero and icon of a generation, if not an…
This Day in Space History: One Small Step
“That’s one small step for a man… one giant leap for mankind.” I’m not sure what else need be said about the significance of what happened on this day in 1969, 43 years ago… it was a shining moment in human history, and will be — should be — remembered forever as an example of…
To The Moon! Apollo 11 Liftoff (HD Video)
On this day, July 16, in 1969, a Saturn V rocket — still the most powerful rocket ever built — launched Apollo 11 on its historic journey to take astronauts Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins to the Moon — the first two becoming the first humans to ever step foot on another world…
The Gift of Apollo
Just watch this: “Once upon a time we soared into the Solar System, for a few years… then we hurried back. Why? What happened? What was Apollo really about?” – Carl Edward Sagan, 1934–1996 Nothing more need be said.
July 31: Birthday for Lunar Images!
On this day in 1964 NASA’s Ranger 7 became the first US spacecraft to capture close-up images of the Moon’s surface. The first image, shown here, was 1,000 times clearer than anything ever previously seen. The spacecraft, launched on July 28, 1964, arrived at the Moon three days later and turned on its cameras 17 minutes…
When We Left Earth
“It’s tiny out there…it’s inconsequential. It’s ironic that we had come to study the Moon and it was really discovering the Earth.” – Bill Anders, Apollo 8 astronaut When We Left Earth is a fantastic six-part series by Discovery Channel that features hours of new footage from NASA and interviews with many of those personally…
Lights in the Dark 