NASA recently released over 11,000 images from the Apollo space missions via the Project Apollo Archive on Flickr, and I have spent the past few days looking through them. Spoiler alert: They're awesome.
The thousands of images are unprocessed scans of the original film magazines shot by U.S. astronauts, and they chronicle Apollo missions 7–17. The Project Apollo Archive has even been kind enough to sort the Flickr albums based on the film magazines the images were originally shot on, which is just plain cool. Taking a few minutes out of your day to browse through the blend of Hasselblad and 35mm film scans is well worth your time.
As a lifelong Houstonian who grew up visiting Space Center Houston, touring Johnson Space Center, and was even lucky enough to get to assist Pulitzer Prize winner Smiley Pool in photographing group portraits of the crews of the first and last space shuttle missions, space has always meant a lot to me. It is beautiful, terrifying, overwhelming, exciting, and haunting, all at once, and these images capture all of that.
I'm going to show some of my favorites below, and I'll even add some 2015-relevant hashtags to a few of them since our poor astronauts didn't have the option of sharing them to Instagram back in the day.
BONUS:
If you find the arguments of people who claim our entire space program was a hoax amusing on any level, head over to the Project Apollo Archive Facebook Page and spend some time reading through the comments on their posts; they're a veritable gold mine.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/projectapolloarchive/21042845553
#mynasaoffice
https://www.flickr.com/photos/projectapolloarchive/21354846573
https://www.flickr.com/photos/projectapolloarchive/21764833108
https://www.flickr.com/photos/projectapolloarchive/21961864861
#ishootfilm #filmisnotdead #believeinfilm #keepfilmalive #buyfilmnotmegapixels #film #filmphotography #art
https://www.flickr.com/photos/projectapolloarchive/21912158276
https://www.flickr.com/photos/projectapolloarchive/21733874998
https://www.flickr.com/photos/projectapolloarchive/21729253379
#wanderlust #spaceigers
https://www.flickr.com/photos/projectapolloarchive/21693224332
https://www.flickr.com/photos/projectapolloarchive/21514531299
https://www.flickr.com/photos/projectapolloarchive/21710496491
https://www.flickr.com/photos/projectapolloarchive/21512243110
#yolo #whynot #likeforlike #followme
https://www.flickr.com/photos/projectapolloarchive/21708488531
https://www.flickr.com/photos/projectapolloarchive/21689131315
https://www.flickr.com/photos/projectapolloarchive/21662134636
https://www.flickr.com/photos/projectapolloarchive/21497492029
#nofilter #nomakeup #iwokeuplikethis
https://www.flickr.com/photos/projectapolloarchive/21693513481
#besties #mymain #lovehim
https://www.flickr.com/photos/projectapolloarchive/21672892542
#explore #liveauthentic #model #fashion #vsco #vscocam
https://www.flickr.com/photos/projectapolloarchive/21672156762
#chasinglight #moonigers #bestof
https://www.flickr.com/photos/projectapolloarchive/21492224000
#merica #freedom #USAUSAUSA #ibelievethatwewillwin
https://www.flickr.com/photos/projectapolloarchive/21492320698
https://www.flickr.com/photos/projectapolloarchive/21055961324
#ridindirty #swag #myride #nocopnostop
https://www.flickr.com/photos/projectapolloarchive/21683293425
#selfie #me #noselfiestick
[via Project Apollo Flickr]
we went to the moon ?
If by "moon" you mean "Stanley Kubrick's studio", then yes.
How do these "thumb up, thumb" down buttons work? Trying to thumb this up but it showed thumb down...
No idea, but I've mentally renamed the "thumbs down" button as the "people don't get sarcasm/jokes" button.
Why'd you add these dumb hashtags?
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/snarky
You tried, but it looks dumb
Your opinion, which is valued above all other opinions, has been noted and will dictate all decision making from here on out. We thank you for your contribution.
Again, humor isn't your thing huh? You're trying though, good for you.
;]
These must be fake images, I don't see the alien bases anywhere :P
Your hashtags were almost as good as the pictures. I laughed my ass off dude.
The moon has some interesting light... should do a shoot there... #moonigers
"I mean, Golden Hour is great and all, but it really doesn't compare to the Silver Hour light you get on the moon. That's why I'm only doing lunar photoshoots these days" - hipster astronaut photographer
"I prefer the moon as my prime location because everything is just soooo black around it, there is no distraction, On earth society is just to distracting. I also only shoot my Hasselblad with filmback, its the only camera that can last in space. I mean have you ever seen a 5D on the moon? I thought so.." - hipster astronaut photographer
The dynamic range on this film is amazing, since there is no atmosphere to spread the light, the shadows should have been pitch black
I think it had more to do with the camera itself than the film. The cameras were custom made for the missions, taking temperature and atmosphere into consideration.
http://sterileeye.com/2009/07/23/the-apollo-11-hasselblad-cameras/
And radiation.
We forget how harsh and violent space is becauseit's so "calm" but let's not forget those blingy visors are gold plated to stop radiation, not showing off!
Truly an acheivement!
That's true. The space suit is really an engineering marvel.
http://www.nasa.gov/audience/forstudents/5-8/features/nasa-knows/what-is...
NASA used two different Kodak Ektachrome slide (positive) films, designated as SO-68 and SO-121. I can't find the specs online, since SO denotes Special Order, and thus it had different formulation from the regular Ektachrome films sold at the time. They also packed Kodak Panatomic-X ASA 80 black & white film and a special batch of Kodak Hawkeye 2485 surveillance film, rated at ASA 16,000.
Has little to do with the film or atmosphere, they were purposely scanned with the black levels lifted. This is why the films rebate edge (border that receives no light) is not pitch black.
I know this is sh*tty of me, but take some of the shots into PS and play with the black levels, just for kicks. Some of the earth shots are hypnotic.
does gravity effect the shutter speed also? just came in my mind