Astronomy Picture of the Day |
APOD: 1998 May 3 - Standing on the Moon
Explanation:
Humans once walked on the Moon. Pictured
above is the second person to stand on the lunar surface: Edwin
"Buzz" Aldrin. During this Apollo 11
mission, Neil Armstrong
(the first person to walk on the moon) and Buzz Aldrin
landed on the Moon while Michael Collins
circled in the Command Module
above. The lunar team
erected a plaque on the surface that reads: HERE MEN FROM THE
PLANET EARTH FIRST SET FOOT UPON THE MOON JULY 1969 A.D. WE CAME
IN PEACE FOR ALL MANKIND. The
Apollo missions demonstrated that
it is possible to land humans on the Moon
and return them safely.
APOD: 2005 March 22 - To Fly Free in Space
Explanation:
At about 100 meters from the cargo bay of the space shuttle Challenger, Bruce McCandless II was further out than anyone had ever been before.
Guided by a
Manned Maneuvering Unit (MMU), astronaut McCandless,
pictured above, was floating free in space.
McCandless and fellow
NASA astronaut
Robert Stewart were the first to experience such an
"untethered space walk"
during Space Shuttle mission
41-B in
1984.
The MMU works by shooting jets of
nitrogen and has since been used to help deploy and
retrieve satellites.
With a mass over 140 kilograms, an MMU is heavy
on Earth,
but, like everything, is weightless when drifting in orbit.
The MMU was replaced with the
SAFER backpack propulsion unit.
APOD: 2006 January 21 - Apollo 12: Self-Portrait
Explanation:
In November of 1969,
Apollo 12 astronaut-photographer
Charles "Pete" Conrad recorded
this masterpiece while documenting colleague
Alan Bean's
lunar soil collection activities on the
Oceanus Procellarum.
The image is dramatic and stark.
The harsh environment of the Moon's Ocean of Storms is
echoed in Bean's helmet, a perfectly
composed
reflection of Conrad and
the
lunar horizon.
Is it art?
Works of photojournalists originally
intent on recording the human condition on planet Earth,
such as Lewis W. Hine's images from New York City
in the early 20th century, or
Margaret
Bourke-White's magazine photography are widely
regarded as art.
Similarly many documentary astronomy and
space images
can be appreciated for their artistic and
esthetic appeal.
Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell
(USRA)
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings, and
Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris.
Specific rights apply.
A service of:
EUD at
NASA /
GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.