Apollo 11: Catching Some Sun
Credit & Copyright: Apollo 11,
NASA
(Image scanned by Kipp Teague)
Explanation:
Bright sunlight
glints and long dark shadows
dramatize this
image of the
lunar surface
taken by Apollo 11 astronaut Neil
Armstrong, the first to walk
on
the Moon.
Pictured is the mission's lunar module, the Eagle,
and spacesuited lunar module pilot Buzz Aldrin
unfurling a long sheet of foil also known as the
Solar Wind Collector.
Exposed facing the Sun, the foil trapped atoms streaming outward
in the solar wind, ultimately catching a sample of
material
from the Sun itself.
Along with moon rocks and lunar soil samples, the solar wind collector was
returned for analysis
in earthbound laboratories.
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:
LHEA at
NASA /
GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
