Apollo 11 - Astronaut Buzz Aldrin, the American Flag, and the Lunar Lander
by Eric Glaser
Title
Apollo 11 - Astronaut Buzz Aldrin, the American Flag, and the Lunar Lander
Artist
Eric Glaser
Medium
Photograph - Digital Photography
Description
"Apollo 11 - Astronaut Buzz Aldrin, the American Flag, and the Lunar Lander"
Photo made by Neil Armstrong using a 70mm Hasselblad camera
From the Apollo 11 Image Library: "Buzz and the U.S. flag. Note the well-defined footprints in the foreground. The shadows indicate that Buzz is standing with the Sun directly in front of him. There is a reflection of the Sun in his visor. We can see the LEC straps hanging down inside of the ladder strut. In the foreground, we can see the foot-grabbing loops in the TV cable. The double crater is beyond Buzz and the LM shadow.
Journal Contributors Owen Merrick, Brian McInall, and Markus Mehring call attention to the fact that, in the high-resolution detail by Thomas Schwagmeier, we can see Buzz peering over at Neil. In 5874 Buzz is facing the flag and saluting; but, by the time Neil takes 5875, Buzz has turned his body slightly - and his head a great deal more - to look over to see if Neil has taken the picture, possibly having lowered his right hand in the interim. Normally, the high reflectivity of the gold visor would keep us from seeing Buzz's face but, as Mehring notes, in this case "his face is directly illuminated by the sunlight from the front and at a right angle to the observer's point of view, so it literally shines through the visor, especially because he's sticking his head forward. At different viewing and illumination angles and with his head deeper inside the helmet and less brightly illuminated, reflections off of the visor that would wash out anything behind it. But in this case we're lucky." Journal Contributor Harald Kucharek has created a two-frame movie consisting of frames 5874 and 5875 which clearly shows Buzz turning his torso slightly between frames, but without moving his feet. Note, in particular, the change in his knee positions. Both the TV record and the 16--mm film show Buzz turning in Neil's direction twice during this interval."
"NASA's Apollo Program (1961-1972) remains the pinnacle of human exploration. Through the efforts of engineering and scientific teams and courageous astronaut crews, and the dedication of the American public, the accomplishments of the thirteen-flight Apollo program, nine of which traveled to the moon, advanced human knowledge and stirred our collective imagination. Aside from the cold war objective of "beating the Soviet Union to the Moon," the lunar samples and mission data that were returned directly helped answer the fundamental question of why Earth has a moon. The Apollo Program also inspired a generation of Americans, scarred by war and internal conflict, to choose careers in science, engineering, and technology to support future space exploration."
-- Paul Schenk
Image enhanced and adapted by Eric Glaser from NASA photo AS11-40-5875
Image Credit: NASA
Uploaded
July 4th, 2019
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