APOD: 2026 September 12 Б Apollo 11: Catching Some Sun
Credit & Copyright: Apollo 11,
NASA (Image scanned by Kipp Teague)
Explanation:
Bright sunlight glints as long dark shadows mark this image of the
surface of the Moon.
It was taken on
July 20, 1969,
by Apollo 11 astronaut
Neil Armstrong,
the first to walk on the lunar surface.
Pictured
is the mission's lunar module, the Eagle,
and spacesuited lunar module pilot Buzz Aldrin.
Aldrin is 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 22 kilograms of
moon rocks and lunar soil
samples, the solar wind collector was
returned for analysis
in earthbound laboratories.
APOD's main NASA site is
moving:
From apod.nasa.gov to
science.nasa.gov/apod
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.
