Project Fire
As part of the Project Fire study in 1962, technicians at NASA's Langley Research Center ready materials to be subjected to high temperatures that will simulate the effects of re-entry heating. This view is of the 9 X 6 Foot Thermal Structures Tunnel.
Image Credit: NASA
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Damage From Apollo 13 Explosion
This view of the severely damaged Apollo 13 Service Module (SM) was photographed from the Lunar Module/Command Module (LM/CM) following SM jettisoning. As seen in this cropped image, enlarged to provide a close-up view of the damaged area, an entire panel on the SM was blown away by the apparent explosion of oxygen tank number two.
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Apollo 13 Lunar Module 'Mail Box'
Interior view of the Apollo 13 Lunar Module (LM) showing the "mail box," a jury-rigged arrangement which the Apollo 13 astronauts built to use the Command Module (CM) lithium hydroxide canisters to purge carbon dioxide from the LM. Lithium hydroxide is used to scrub CO2 from the spacecraft's atmosphere.
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Collecting Lunar Samples on Apollo 17 Spacewalk - December 1972
Scientist-astronaut Harrison H. Schmitt, Apollo 17 lunar module pilot, collects lunar rake samples at Station 1 during the mission's first spacewalk at the Taurus-Littrow landing site. This picture was taken by astronaut Eugene A. Cernan, commander.
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A Scientist on the Moon
Scientist-astronaut Harrison H. Schmitt stands by the American flag during a moonwalk on the Apollo 17 mission. Home, that small dot in the blackness of space above the flag, is a quarter-million miles away.
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Earthrise
The Apollo 16 crew captured this Earthrise with a handheld Hasselblad camera during the second revolution of the moon. Identifiable craters seen on the moon include Saha, Wyld and Saenger. Much of the terrain seen here is never visible from the Earth, as the command module was passing onto what is known as the 'dark side' of the moon.
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Apollo 9 Command and Service Module
This view of the Apollo 9 command and service module was photographed from lunar module 'Spider' on fifth day of the mission.
Image Credit: NASA
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A striking view from the Apollo 8 spacecraft shows nearly the entire Western Hemisphere, from the mouth of the St. Lawrence River, including nearby Newfoundland, extending to Tierra del Fuego at the southern tip of South America. Central America is clearly outlined. Nearly all of South America is covered by clouds, except the high Andes Mountain chain along the west coast. A small portion of the bulge of West Africa shows along the sunset terminator.
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The Apollo 10 command module is seen from the lunar module (LM) after separation in lunar orbit. On May 22, 1969, Thomas Stafford and Eugene Cernan boarded the LM which they had named "Snoopy," after the Peanuts comic strip character. They undocked from the command module, named "Charlie Brown," leaving John Young orbiting about 60 miles above the moon.
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Apollo 12 astronaut Alan Bean holds a special environmental sample container filled with lunar soil collected during his sojourn on the lunar surface. A Hasselblad camera is mounted on the chest of his spacesuit. Pete Conrad, who took this image, is reflected in Bean's helmet visor, Nov. 20, 1969.
Image Credit: NASA
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Lightening flashes in the sky behind the Saturn V rocket that will propel Apollo 15 to the moon, July 25, 1971.
Image Credit: NASA
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Apollo 17 commander Eugene A. Cernan is holding the lower corner of the American flag during the mission's first EVA, December 12, 1972. Photograph by Harrison J. "Jack" Schmitt.
Image Credit: NASA
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The crescent Earth rises above the lunar horizon in this spectacular photograph taken from the Apollo 17 spacecraft in lunar orbit during final lunar landing mission in the Apollo program.
Image Credit: NASA
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Apollo 40th Anniversary Press Conference
Apollo astronauts from left, Walt Cunningham (Apollo 7), James Lovell (Apollo 8 Apollo 13), David Scott (Apollo 9 Apollo 15), Buzz Aldrin (Apollo 11), Charles Duke (Apollo 16), Thomas Stafford (Apollo 10) and Eugene Cernan (Apollo 17) are seen during the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission and the walk on the moon press conference, Monday, July 20, 2009, at NASA Headquarters in Washington.
Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)
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All-American Salute
Astronaut John W. Young, commander of the Apollo 16 lunar landing mission, leaps from the lunar surface as he salutes the United States flag at the Descartes landing site during the first Apollo 16 extravehicular activity. Astronaut Charles M. Duke Jr., lunar module pilot, took this picture. The Lunar Module "Orion" is on the left. The Lunar Roving Vehicle is parked beside Orion and the object behind Young (in the shadow of the Lunar Module) is the Far Ultraviolet Camera/Spectrograph.
Apollo 15 Lunar Module and Rover
Apollo 15 lunar module pilot Jim Irwin loaded the lunar rover with tools and equipment in preparation for the first lunar spacewalk at the Hadley-Apennine landing site. The Lunar Module 'Falcon' appears on the left in this image. The undeployed Laser Ranging Retro-Reflector lies atop Falcon's Modular Equipment Stowage Assembly.
Apollo 15 launched on July 26, 1971, from Launch Pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center.
Image Credit: NASA
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Apollo 11 Moonwalk
AS11-40-5875 (20 July 1969) — Astronaut Edwin E. Aldrin Jr., lunar module pilot of the first lunar landing mission, poses for a photograph beside the deployed United States flag during an Apollo 11 extravehicular activity (EVA) on the lunar surface. The Lunar Module (LM) is on the left, and the footprints of the astronauts are clearly visible in the soil of the moon. Astronaut Neil A. Armstrong, commander, took this picture with a 70mm Hasselblad lunar surface camera.
Image Credit: NAS
Failure Is Not An Option
Gene Kranz (foreground, back to camera), an Apollo 13 Flight Director, watches Apollo 13 astronaut and lunar module pilot Fred Haise onscreen in the Mission Operations Control Room, during the mission's fourth television transmission on the evening of April 13, 1970. Shortly after the transmission, an explosion occurred that ended any hope of a lunar landing and jeopardized the lives of the crew.
Image Credit: NASA
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'Orion' Lunar Module Seen
From the Rover
Orion seen from the Rover
The Apollo 16 Lunar Module "Orion" is photographed from a distance by astronaut Charles M. Duke Jr., Lunar Module pilot, aboard the moving Lunar Roving Vehicle. Astronauts Duke and Commander John W. Young were returning from the third Apollo 16 spacewalk. The RCA color television camera mounted on the LRV is in the foreground. A portion of the LRV's high-gain antenna is at top left.
Image Credit: NASA
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Apollo 17 Extravehicular Activity
Astronaut on spacewalk on lunar surface near large rock with moon rover at right
On Dec. 13, 1972, scientist-astronaut Harrison H. Schmitt is photographed standing next to a huge, split lunar boulder during the third Apollo 17 extravehicular activity (EVA) at the Taurus-Littrow landing site. The Lunar Roving Vehicle (LRV), which transported Schmitt and Eugene A. Cernan to this extravehicular station from their Lunar Module (LM), is seen in the background. The mosaic is ma
Moon Bound - Apollo 11 Flight Crew Training
Moon Bound - Apollo 11
The Apollo 11 flight crew is given instructions by technicians and management while undergoing the extravehicular activity (EVA) training and the lunar module walk-through in preparation for the first manned landing on the moon.
Image credit: NASA
June 18, 1969
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Moon Bound - Apollo 11 Astronauts With Lunar Module Mockup
As the Apollo 11 astronauts rehearse their lunar landing mission in simulators, they pause in front of a lunar module mockup in the Flight Crew Training Building area. From left, are Command Module Pilot Michael Collins, Commander Neil A. Armstrong, and Lunar Module Pilot Edwin E. Aldrin, Jr.
Image credit: NASA
June 19, 1969
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Moon Bound - Apollo 15
Apollo 15 Commander David R. Scott operates the battery-powered lunar surface drill during a training exercise at a man-made replica of the moon's Hadley-Apennine region at the Kennedy Space Center.
Image credit: NASA
July 7, 1971
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Dec. 5, 2019
NASA Engineers Break SLS Test Tank on Purpose to Test Extreme Limits
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This Week in NASA History: First Use of the Lunar Roving Vehicle – July 31, 1971
This week in 1971, Apollo 15 became the first mission to use the Lunar Roving Vehicle.
This week in 1971, Apollo 15 became the first mission to use the Lunar Roving Vehicle. The LRV was a lightweight, electric vehicle designed to operate in the low-gravity vacuum of the Moon. It was capable of traversing the lunar surface, allowing Apollo astronauts to extend the range of their extravehicular activities. Here, the LRV is pho
This week in 1969, Apollo 9 splashed down in the Atlantic Ocean following a successful 10-day mission.
Here, the docked Apollo 9 command and service module and lunar module can be seen during astronaut David R. Scott’s stand-up spacewalk on the fourth flight day of the mission. The primary objective of Apollo 9 was an Earth-orbital engineering test of the first crewed lunar module. Other prime objectives included an overall checkout of rocket and spacecraft systems, the crew and procedures. The flight pl
This view of Earth rising over the Moon's horizon was taken from the Apollo 11 spacecraft. The lunar terrain pictured is in the area of Smyth's Sea on the nearside. Coordinates of the center of the terrain are 85 degrees east longitude and 3 degrees north latitude. While astronaut Neil A. Armstrong, commander; and Edwin E. Aldrin Jr., lunar module pilot, descended in the Lunar Module (LM) "Eagle" to explore the Sea of Tranquility region of the moon, astronaut Michael Collins remained with the Command and S
Countdown to Apollo 11
In June 1969, just a month before liftoff, the Apollo 11 astronauts continued training at NASA's Kennedy Space Center for their mission. On June 18, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin rehearsed their lunar surface spacewalk in the Flight Crew Training Building, including practicing deploying the Early Apollo Surface Experiment Package (EASEP) suite of experiments. The investigators for the experiments were present to observe the simulation. The astronauts also spent much time in the Lun
This Week in NASA History: 1st Full-Duration Firing of S-II Flight Stage – May 20, 1966
This week in 1966, the first full-duration firing of the S-II flight stage occurred at Mississippi Test Facility.
This week in 1966, the first full-duration firing of the S-II flight stage occurred at Mississippi Test Facility — now known as NASA Stennis Space Center — when S-II-T was test-fired for 354.5 seconds. This was the fourth static firing of the S-II-T. Developed by the Space Division of North American Aviatio
This week in 1966, NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center announced it had received the first uprated J-2 engine from Rocketdyne. The J-2 was initially rated at 200,000 pounds of thrust, but a higher thrust was needed for the second and third stages of the Saturn V, beginning with AS-504, the Apollo 9 launch vehicle. A cluster of five J-2 engines was employed on the S-II, or second, stage and a single J-2 was utilized on the S-IVB, or third, stage of the Saturn V rocket. Here, a J-2 engine is being processed
This week in 1965, assembly of S-IU-200F/500F, the Facilities Checkout/ Dynamic Test version of the Saturn V Instrument Unit, was completed. Designed by NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center and built by International Business Machines, the Instrument Unit served as the nerve center for the Saturn V, providing guidance and control, command and sequence of vehicle functions, telemetry and environmental control. Here, engineers conduct a system test on the Instrument Unit at IBM in Huntsville. Now through Dece
This week in 1965, NASA awarded the Instrument Unit contract, NAS8-1400, to International Business Machines. This was the first major incentive contract to be negotiated in the Saturn IB Program. Designed by NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center and built by IBM, the Instrument Unit served as the “nerve center” for the Saturn V, providing guidance and control, command and sequence of vehicle functions, telemetry and environmental control. Here, the Instrument Unit is being manufactured in the east high bay a
This week in 1968, the Mississippi Test Facility — today’s NASA Stennis Space Center — successfully completed the first full-duration static test firing of 1968. Engineers and technicians static-fired the fourth flight version of the Saturn V second stage, S-II-4, for six minutes. The S-II-4 was used on the Apollo 9 Saturn V launch vehicle. Developed by the Space Division of North American Aviation under the direction of NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, the S-II stage employed five J-2 engines, each ca
This week in 1966, S-IVB contractor McDonnell Douglas completed factory checkout of the S-IVB-504 flight stage — used on Apollo 9 — in Huntington Beach, California. The S-IVB stage was developed under the direction of NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center and was powered by one J-2 engine capable of producing 225,000 pounds of thrust. Here, the S-IVB-505 and S-IVB-211 are shown in the McDonnell Douglas S-IVB Assembly and Checkout Tower. Apollo 8 was the first manned flight of the Saturn V vehicle and the fir
This week in 1968, Apollo 7 lifted off from Launch Complex 34 at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. In the first crewed mission of the Apollo Program, the primary objective was to measure crew performance in a Command and Service Module, also known as CSM. Another objective was to validate space vehicle and mission support facilities performance during a crewed CSM mission and CSM rendezvous capability. Here, the expended Saturn S-IVB second stage is photographed from the Apollo 7 spacecraft during transportatio
Candid Apollo
Apollo 11 crew after splashdown
On July 24, 1969, the Apollo 11 crew with Commander Neil Armstrong, Command Module Pilot Michael Collins and Lunar Module Pilot Buzz Aldrin splashed down in the Pacific Ocean after achieving the first lunar landing.
Upon splashing down, the Apollo 11 crew underwent a 21-day quarantine. The purpose of this was to protect against the small possibility of lunar contagion. This procedure was discontinued after Apollo 14. This photo provides a candid view of the a
At Tranquility Base
Buzz Aldrin on the lunar surface
Forty-nine years ago on July 20, 1969, humanity stepped foot on another celestial body and into history. Mission Commander Neil Armstrong documented the lunar mission and snapped this image of Lunar Module Pilot Buzz Aldrin, as he carried the Passive Seismic Experiments Package (in his left hand) and the Laser Ranging Retroreflector (in his right) to the deployment area. These two experiments made up the Early Apollo Scientific Experiment Package. This p
Now This: The Apollo 11 Crew
Apollo 11 prime crew
On Jan. 9, 1969, NASA announced the prime crew of the Apollo 11 lunar landing mission. This portrait was taken on Jan. 10, the day after the announcement of the crew assignment. Later that year in July 1969, the crew launched to the Moon and into history. From left to right are lunar module pilot Buzz Aldrin; commander Neil Armstrong; and command module pilot Michael Collins. They were photographed in front of a lunar module mockup beside Building 1 at what
Launch Day!
Apollo 8 crew enters the transfer to go to Pad A.
On Dec. 21, 1968, the Apollo 8 crew leaves the Kennedy Space Center's then-named Manned Spacecraft Operations Building during the mission's prelaunch countdown on the way to their history-making lunar orbiting flight. Commander Frank Borman (waving to well-wishers) leads the crew, followed by astronauts James Lovell, command module pilot; and William Anders, lunar module pilot. The crew is about to enter a special transfer van which transported
This Week in NASA History: Apollo 17 Splashes Down – Dec. 19, 1972
This week in 1972, the Apollo 17 crew returned to Earth following a successful 12-day mission. Apollo 17 marked the final crewed lunar landing mission. Here, Apollo 17 commander Eugene Cernan approaches the parked Lunar Roving Vehicle. NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center designed, developed and managed the production of the Lunar Roving Vehicle that astronauts used to explore the Moon. Today, Marshall is developing NASA's Space Launch Syst
The Lunar Roving Vehicle (LRV) gets a speed workout by astronaut John W. Young in the "Grand Prix" run during the first Apollo 16 spacewalk at the Descartes landing site on April 21, 1972. This view is a frame from motion picture film exposed by a 16mm Maurer camera held by astronaut Charles M. Duke Jr. While astronaut's Young, commander, and Duke, lunar module pilot, descended in the Lunar Module (LM) "Orion" to explore the Descartes highlands region of the moon, astronaut Thomas K. Mattingly II, command
Earth as viewed from 10,000 miles by Apollo 4
On November 9, 1967, the uncrewed Apollo 4 test flight made a great ellipse around Earth as a test of the translunar motors and of the high speed entry required of a crewed flight returning from the Moon. A 70mm camera was programmed to look out a window toward Earth, and take a series of photographs from "high apogee." Seen looking west are coastal Brazil, the Atlantic Ocean, West Africa and Antarctica. This photograph was made as the Apollo 4 spacecraft, sti
Apollo 12 Crew Welcomed Aboard USS Hornet
Astronauts in flight suits with protective masks wave
USS Hornet crewmen are greeted by the crew of the Apollo 12 lunar landing mission as the three astronauts are transferred from a U.S. Navy helicopter to a Mobile Quarantine Facility (MQF) aboard the prime recovery vessel. Charles Conrad Jr., right, commander; Richard F. Gordon Jr., command module pilot, left front; and Alan L. Bean, lunar module pilot, splashed down safely at 2:58 p.m., Nov. 24, 1969.
Image Cr
August 1, 1971 - Second Apollo 15 Moonwalk
Panorama of lunar surface with instruments in foreground and astronaut in spacesuit in far right
This mini-panorama combines two photographs taken by Apollo 15 lunar module pilot Jim Irwin, from the Apollo Lunar Surface Experiments Package (ALSEP) site, at the end of the second Apollo 15 moonwalk on August 1, 1971. Apollo 15 was the fourth crewed mission to land on the Moon and the first to visit and explore the Moon's Hadley Rille and Apennine Mountains which are
Lunar Module at Tranquility Base
Lunar module on surface of moon with astronaut's shadow in lower left of frame
This photograph of the Lunar Module at Tranquility Base was taken by Neil Armstrong during the Apollo 11 mission, from the rim of Little West Crater on the lunar surface. Armstrong's shadow and the shadow of the camera are visible in the foreground. When he took this picture, Armstrong was clearly standing above the level of the Lunar Module's footpads. Darkened tracks lead leftward to the deploy
This photograph of the Lunar Module at Tranquility Base was taken by Neil Armstrong during the Apollo 11 mission, from the rim of Little West Crater on the lunar surface. Armstrong's shadow and the shadow of the camera are visible in the foreground. When he took this picture, Armstrong was clearly standing above the level of the Lunar Module's footpads. Darkened tracks lead leftward to the deployment area of the Early Apollo Surface Experiments Package (EASEP) and rightward to the TV camera. This is the f
NASA Langley and the Space Race
Neil Armstrong in flight suit with lunar module simulator
When the United States set a goal of landing a man on the moon, NASA Langley Research Center tackled the many challenges of spaceflight, trained astronauts, managed Project Mercury, and assumed major roles in both the Gemini and Apollo programs. Langley led the Lunar Orbiter initiative, which not only mapped the moon, but chose the spot for the first human landing. Langley aerospace engineer John Houbolt championed th
May 18, 1969 - Apollo 10 View of the Earth
Earth photographed from Apollo 10 capsule
A view of Earth from 36,000 nautical miles away as photographed from the Apollo 10 spacecraft during its trans-lunar journey toward the moon. While the Yucatan Peninsula is obscured by clouds, nearly all of Mexico north of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec can be clearly delineated. The Gulf of California and Baja California and the San Joaquin Valley can be easily identified. Also, the delta of the Rio Grande River and the Texas