Apollo 11: Catching Some Sun
Credit & Copyright: Apollo 11,
NASA (Image scanned by Kipp Teague)
Explanation:
Bright sunlight
glints and long dark shadows mark this image of the
lunar surface.
It was taken July 20, 1969 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 Composition Experiment.
Exposed facing the Sun, the foil trapped particles streaming
outward in the solar wind, 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.
