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Indian Express
15 hours ago
- Science
- Indian Express
In photos: Here are top 10 iconic space photos of all time
Since the advent of space exploration, cameras have been silent companions on nearly every mission, capturing some of the most extraordinary sights ever witnessed. With the advancement of technology, high-performance cameras are being designed to be increasingly ultra-lightweight for space where every gram counts. However, the pursuit of bettering the quality remains uncompromised to illuminate distant worlds in stunning detail through the lenses of astronauts, robotic explorers, and powerful telescopes. As India established a step ahead in its space program, with Shubhanshu Shukla at the International Space Station (ISS) as part of the Axiom-4 mission, we take a look at the top 10 most iconic space photographs ever clicked. On Christmas Eve 1968, Apollo 8 astronaut William Anders captured the first colour photograph of Earth rising above the lunar horizon. The blue-and-white sphere of Earth, set against the stark gray of the Moon, was taken during humanity's first journey around the Moon. The 'Blue Marble' was taken by the Apollo 17 crew en route to the Moon, showing a fully illuminated Earth. Captured with a hand-held Hasselblad camera, it reveals Africa, Antarctica, and the swirling clouds of our atmosphere. During the first Moon landing, Neil Armstrong photographed Buzz Aldrin standing on the lunar surface, with Armstrong and the lunar module reflected in Aldrin's visor. This image captures the achievement of the Apollo program. NASA's Mars Pathfinder mission delivered the Sojourner rover to the surface of Mars, where it sent back images of the Martian terrain and itself exploring the rocky landscape. These photos marked the first time a rover operated on another planet. The Curiosity rover has sent back several self-portraits from Mars, stitched together from images taken by its robotic arm. As Voyager 1 left the solar system, it turned its camera back toward Earth and captured our planet as a tiny dot suspended in a sunbeam. This image was made famous by Carl Sagan. On July 19, 2013, as NASA's Cassini spacecraft captured a mosaic of Saturn, its rings, and several moons, it also photographed Earth as a tiny blue dot nearly 900 million miles away. Planetary scientist Carolyn Porco, who led the imaging team, encouraged people around the world to reflect on their place in the cosmos and to step outside and 'smile' as their photo was being taken from deep space. Shortly after its launch, the Hubble Space Telescope captured its 'first light' image. Though not as visually stunning as later Hubble images, this photograph demonstrated the telescope's power and set the stage for decades of discovery. Hubble's high-resolution image of Jupiter and its moon Europa reveals intricate details of the planet's atmosphere and the icy surface of its moon. This Hubble image shows the irregular galaxy NGC 4449, a star-forming galaxy in the constellation Canes Venatici. (With inputs from Space, NASA, ESA, BBC)
Yahoo
04-04-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
NASA's Artemis 2 astronauts reveal moon mission patch to honor 'AII'
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. The next astronauts to fly to the moon now have a mission patch to represent their history-making journey. NASA on Thursday (April 3) debuted the official Artemis 2 insignia, its first emblem for a moon-bound crew in more than 50 years. Astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen will wear the patch when they launch on the Artemis 2 mission, currently targeted for no later than April 2026. "This patch designates the mission as 'AII,' signifying not only the second major flight of the Artemis campaign, but also an endeavor of discovery that seeks to explore for all and by all," wrote the crew in their description of the mission patch. The emblem includes design elements that symbolize the past, present and future of human space exploration. Related: NASA's Artemis 2 mission: Everything you need to know Borrowing the same outline as NASA's Artemis program patch (as well as the shape of the "A" in "AII" and the red trajectory line forming the crossbar of the "A" and the path between Earth and the moon), the border frames an artistic depiction of "Earthrise." The now-iconic image of our home planet hovering above the lunar horizon was captured by the Apollo 8 crew, the first humans to fly to the moon. The Artemis 2 crew will not enter lunar orbit like Frank Borman, Jim Lovell and Bill Anders did in December 1968, but will share in seeing some of the same sights as they did while flying beyond the moon and then looping back to return to Earth. "The scene of the Earth and the moon represents the dual nature of human spaceflight, both equally compelling," wrote the Artemis 2 astronauts. "The moon represents our exploration destination, focused on discovery of the unknown. The Earth represents home, focused on the perspective we gain when we look back at our shared planet and learn what it is to be uniquely human." The orbit depicted around Earth on the patch is intended to highlight the ongoing exploration missions that have enabled the Artemis program to set its sights on a long-term presence on the moon "and soon, Mars." The crew's surnames in the lower left corner of the patch complete the design. The Artemis 2 insignia is absent any country flags, though red, white and blue are the prevalent colors on the otherwise black and gray patch. Mission commander Wiseman, pilot Glover and mission specialist Koch are American astronauts, while mission specialist Hansen is from Canada. He will be the first person from a nation other than the U.S. to fly to the moon. Hansen, together with the Canadian Space Agency, earlier revealed his personal patch for the mission. It features Indigenous art as a sign of respect for Canada's original explorers. Related stories: — The moon: Everything you need to know about Earth's companion — NASA's Artemis program: Everything you need to know — NASA stacks moon-bound Artemis 2 rocket: Space photo of the day In addition to being humanity's first mission to the moon since 1972, the Artemis 2 mission will mark the first test flight of the SLS (Space Launch System) rocket and Orion spacecraft with astronauts on board. Wiseman, Glover, Koch and Hansen will log more than 600,000 miles (965,000 kilometers) as they fly around the moon and back, including possibly traveling farther into space than any astronauts have flown before. Follow on Facebook and on X at @collectSPACE. Copyright 2025 All rights reserved.
Yahoo
09-02-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Auction offers Neil Armstrong's reply to NASA engineer's Apollo 11 mission patch ideas
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Neil Armstrong was appreciative, but as explained in his handwritten letter, it was too late. The Apollo 11 commander and his crewmates had already arrived at a design to represent the first moon landing. Armstrong's note and the mission patch proposal that inspired it are up for auction in Goldberg Coins & Collectibles' Feb. 27 public sale in Los Angeles. The emblem art and first moonwalker's reply are part of the Clark C. McClelland collection, an archive of astronaut autographs, cscale rocket models and flown memorabilia from the estate of a NASA engineer who died in 2021. "My father worked on hundreds of manned and unmanned U.S. missions during his 34 years with NASA at Cape Canaveral in Florida," said Carrie Lane, one of McClelland's daughters, in a statement released by Goldberg. Though other items from the collection are estimated to sell for more, McClelland's attempts to help with designing an Apollo mission patch may be the most unique pieces in the sale. Goldberg has grouped the majority of the concepts into one lot, which they have appraised at $700 to $1200. Related: Neil Armstrong: First man on the moon "McClelland had a bit of an artist in him and submitted logo ideas to the various mission crews of Apollo and later the shuttle program," the auction catalog description for Lot 1017 reads. "McClelland submitted the most designs for Apollo 11 and Apollo 12, well over a dozen each." There are also designs for Apollo 8, the first mission to send humans around the moon, Apollo 9 and the mid-flight explosion-plagued Apollo 13, as well as concept logos for rockets from when McClelland worked at the Martin Company (later Martin-Marietta and today Lockheed Martin). One of McClelland's pencil drawings for Apollo 11 shows a circular patch with the astronaut symbol at its center flagged by the Mercury and Gemini program logos. "This emblem shows recognition of each step [of the] national space program that has led to the Apollo 11's landing," McClelland wrote to the Apollo 11 crew in April 1969, three months before their launch. Another full-color concept depicts an American flag planted on the moon at the center of a gumdrop-shaped emblem with the trajectory of the mission from Earth to the moon as the hand of god. The path itself appears to be filled with the lunar surface as seen from orbit and includes the Latin inscription, "Annuit Coeptis" ("Providence Favors Our Undertakings"), as borrowed from the Great Seal of the United States. As Goldberg notes, McClelland's "designs were competing with so many others to win the favor of the various crews," and none of his Apollo ideas were accepted. "We felt as though we wanted our own thoughts incorporated into the patch & have completed our design. I thought you might like your renditions back," wrote Armstrong before writing out his name (rather than adding his signature). Separately, Armstrong inscribed one of his early NASA portraits to McClelland, "with appreciation for your ideas." Similarly, Apollo 11 command module pilot Michael Collins, who is credited with coming up with the eagle-centric concept for the Apollo 11 insignia, extended his thanks on an autographed photo for McClelland's "help on the Apollo XI mission & emblem." Both Armstrong's and Collins' signed photos, together with a third inscribed "with many thanks" by Buzz Aldrin, are included in the sale in another lot (1154), which is estimated to sell for $1,200 to $1,500. The Apollo 11 astronauts collaborated with a different NASA employee, illustrator James Cooper, to develop Collins' drawings into a final design. "We've been particularly pleased with the emblem of our flight, depicting the U.S. eagle bringing the universal symbol of peace from the Earth, from the planet Earth, to the moon, that symbol being the olive branch," said Aldrin in a broadcast from space during the moon mission. Related: The moon: Everything you need to know about Earth's companion Related stories: — Trump administration removes Apollo moon rock from White House Oval Office — The Apollo Program: How NASA sent astronauts to the moon — Astronaut's mission 'back to Earth' lands on colorful spacesuit patch One additional lot (1165, $400 to $600) provides a look at one more unsuccessful attempt by McClelland to design an Apollo patch. His Apollo 12 concept design uses the same shape and some of the elements from one of his rejected Apollo 11 emblems, but incorporates naval wings as a nod to the "all Navy crew." The border of the patch artwork was signed by the Apollo 12 astronauts, Charles Conrad, Alan Bean and Dick Gordon. Though he never saw any of his designs launch to the moon, McClelland did design (and have produced) a commemorative patch in memory of the fallen STS-51L space shuttle Challenger crew. Lot 1017 includes his original color marker rendering and a embroidered example of the 1986 emblem. In total, Goldberg Coins & Collectibles' auction has more than 200 lots with memorabilia from some of the nearly 40 space missions that McClelland worked. Follow on Facebook and on X at @collectSPACE. Copyright 2025 All rights reserved.
