Posts Tagged apollo 11
Golden LEM
Posted by Danielle in Books & Literature, Museums, Exhibits & Parks on April 26, 2011
Scale Replica of the Lunar Module, Cartier Paris 1969
It’s rare that I upload a photo that’s AWESOMELY HUGE, but today is a day for such uploads, and this is a picture you want to see at 3307×4692 pixels! I first heard of these exquisite gold replicas of the Lunar Module while flipping through a large Cartier exhibit book. I was there to feast my eyes on fabulous jewelry, and finding a space object was literally the last thing in the world I expected.
From the book:
Three individual 18-karat gold LM models were made in 1969 by Cartier Paris on behalf of “Le Figaro” newspaper and presented to the three Apollo 11 astronauts during their postflight tour in Paris. This example was presented to Michael Collins.
15.0 x 10.0 x 25.0 cm. Yellow gold, white gold, lacquer, red, white and blue enamel.
I also found an article from the Ohio Historical Society with a more detailed description and history of the scale replicas, and a small image of Neil Armstrong’s replica, showing the custom box it came in. Very cool, check it out!
Awesomely large version of the image found here. Image from Cartier: The Power of Style, published in January 2011.
On the Gantry
This is the crew gantry used by the Apollo 11 crew to enter the command module, high aloft the Saturn V launch tower. It now lives in the rocket park at Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex.
And here I am, standing where heroes once walked:
41st
Posted by Danielle in News & Happenings, Perspectives on July 20, 2010
It was a challenge to find a neat photo to use today, one that I hadn’t used last year on the “big” anniversary. 41 years ago today, man first set foot on the lunar surface. As Pars3c pointed out, it’s good to remember this stuff more often than just the “fives” and “tens”.
It’s hard to know how to feel on this anniversary. A year ago, NASA was still going to the Moon (in a human way.) The public was watching WeChooseTheMoon.org as it counted down the milestones of Apollo 11 in real-time. On a very microscopic level, in the grand scheme of things, I was still figuring out this blog and had not yet rebranded and moved to a fabulous new domain. Also, my theme dictated that my pictures be smaller than they are now. (Hooray for bigger pictures!)
Now, it seems to me that all of NASA is up in the air, seemingly doomed by a statement from the current NASA administrator that we can’t leave LEO without international help. Really? We can’t? If you say so…. At this moment, people are gathered at a conference, presenting the myriad of reasons why the Moon is a great place to go — a fascinating collection of mysteries begging for human hands to explore them. Yet, by our current president’s statement, “we’ve already been there.” Really? It’s over, just like that? Well, if you say so….
And so I find myself hunkering down in the past, the way I’ve always been. I was asked this weekend to contribute to a podcast — and sadly I couldn’t — about how Apollo affected me personally. It’s a hard question. I was born in 1978, so I missed the whole thing by a matter of years. Still, I had the space bug from a very young age, and although I was a child of the Space Shuttle, the moon landings particularly fascinated me. Apollo made me want to become an astronaut, and although things didn’t go that way, it still has a profound effect on me. I dreamed, and still do dream, of the Moon. I’ll probably always be stuck in the past, between Apollo and the Shuttle. Certainly I see no reason to stick my head out into the future. At the moment, NASA gives me no hope at all. Perhaps commercial endeavors will, in time. We’ll see.
Memories from my youth
Posted by Danielle in Perspectives, Picspam on May 7, 2010
These are some of the images I used to stare at in the pages of Cosmos, when I was a child. I was fond of the Saturn V launch photos, the dynamic motion, the flames…. I also liked the Voyager images of Jupiter’s moons. Callisto always looked like goldstone to me. I spent my formative years drawing rockets and moons; no wonder I’m such a space cadet!
Miniature Apollo
Posted by Danielle in Collectibles on October 6, 2009
This article on fantastically-talented miniaturist Willard Wigan is definitely worth a look, if only for the slideshow! Shown here is his miniature of Buzz Aldrin, which rests in the eye of a needle (and can fit on the head of a pin.)
Hat tip to doctorlinguist for the article!
Splashdown-spam
Posted by Danielle in Picspam, Special Events on July 24, 2009
40 years ago today, this happened. [points up] Which led to exciting times for the astronauts… [points down]
Well, the point was, not only did we land on the moon in 1969, the astronauts lived to tell about it, and in fact came back here:
…which really, is quite remarkable.
I’ve always liked Google’s logo designs for special events, and for the 40th on Monday, they had this up, which I find admirably subtle:
Returning
Posted by Danielle in Picspam, Special Events on July 22, 2009
This picture was actually taken 40 years ago *yesterday*…. but who’s counting? Not me.
After the most famous voyage of modern times, it was time to go home. After proving that humanity has the ability to go beyond the confines of planet Earth, the first humans to walk on another world — Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin — flew the ascent stage of their Lunar Module back to meet Michael Collins in the moon-orbiting Command and Service Module. Pictured above on 1969 July 21, the ascending spaceship was captured by Collins making its approach, with the Moon below, and Earth far in the distance.
LRO Images Apollo
Posted by Danielle in News & Happenings, Picspam on July 21, 2009
Last month the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) launched and made its way to the Moon, and some of the first images it sent back are these delightful shots of the Apollo landing sites. Shown here is the Apollo 14 landing site; below you can see (in an enlarged view) where the astronauts walked to place their instruments. Which I think is pretty darned incredible. Go here to see the rest!
Long Way From Home
Posted by Danielle in Picspam, Special Events on July 17, 2009
40 years ago today, astronauts Armstrong, Aldrin and Collins were on their way to the Moon.
AS11-36-5355 (17 July 1969) — Most of Africa and portions of Europe and Asia can be seen in this spectacular photograph taken from the Apollo 11 spacecraft during its trans-lunar coast toward the moon. Apollo 11, with astronauts Neil A. Armstrong, commander; Michael Collins, command module pilot; and Edwin E. Aldrin Jr., lunar module pilot, onboard was already 98,000 nautical miles from Earth when this picture was made. While astronauts Armstrong and Aldrin descended in the Lunar Module (LM) “Eagle” to explore the Sea of Tranquility region of the moon, astronaut Collins remained with the Command and Service Modules (CSM) “Columbia” in lunar orbit.
-
About Silver Rockets
This blog celebrates space exploration, human spaceflight and the heavens, through lots and lots ofimages.
My name is Danielle Signor, and I am a space cadet. STS-133 NASA Tweetup Attendee!
This is a blog, NOT A SHOP. Click the images for their source or purchase link, if available.
-
Subscribe
-
Danielle Recommends...
-
Elsewhere on the Web
