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Inverting Vision – Reflections on the History of Science, Exploration, and Technology

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Reflections on the History of Science, Exploration, and Technology

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James Webb, Vannevar Bush, and Basic Research in Space

In November 1962, NASA administrator James Webb wrote a letter to President John F. Kennedy after a contentious meeting about the Apollo program. In that meeting, they had litigated the overall goal of the US space program, and arrived at a sort of agreement in principle. They both wanted the United States to achieve “preeminence …

HistoryHistory of Exploration

The 1962 Iowa Summer Study

Author’s note: this article was originally published in The Space Review. In June of 1962, scientists from around the United States descended on Iowa City for a summer study on science in space. Among the roster of over 200 attendees were names like Van Allen, Kuiper, Shoemaker, Spitzer, Whipple, Drake, and Sagan. They were enticed …

AstronomyGeology

The First Photograph of the Earth From the Moon: A Visual History

On August 23, 1966, the team behind NASA’s Lunar Orbiter I captured the first image of Earth as seen from the Moon. You will sometimes see an updated version of this image, in fantastic resolution with all imperfections erased. It is an impressive restoration created by the Lunar Orbiter Image Recovery Project (LOIRP) in 2008, …

AstronomyGeology

Kodak’s “Pre-Invented” Lunar Orbiter Camera; or, The Fate of SAMOS Readout

In 1966 and 1967, NASA sent five robotic spacecraft into orbit around the Moon. Constructed for the primary purpose of finding landing sites for Apollo, the Lunar Orbiters also enabled nearly comprehensive mapping of the Moon in stunning detail. The quantity and resolution of the photographs returned by Lunar Orbiter was unprecedented, thanks to a …

HistoryHistory of Exploration

The Echoes of Apollo

Last week, people flew around the Moon. It feels surreal to be able to type those words. When I talk to people who witnessed the Apollo program, I like to ask them what they remember. Most were children at the time, and their answer is often some version of: “Oh, I wanted to be an …

AstronomyHistory

Exploring the Far Side of the Moon: A Visual History

Lunar exploration has always held a strange position in the history of exploration. For all of human history, people have been staring up at the Moon, and for centuries astronomers used telescopes to study the lunar surface. The telescopic surveying and mapping of the Moon by astronomers can (and should, I think) be considered a …

“Standing By”: Science Communication on Apollo 8

This morning, as I sipped my coffee, I took in the view of a crescent Earth from the perspective of astronauts heading toward the Moon. It’s the first time this has been possible in over 50 years. Yesterday, as I awaited the launch of Artemis II, I watched the CBS broadcast of Apollo 8, in …

AstronomyGeology

Spectacle on Other Worlds

The first spacecraft from Earth to touch another world carried no people, but it did carry a unique sort of flag. Early on the morning of September 14, 1959, the Soviet space probe Luna 2 impacted the surface of the Moon. Engineers had placed stainless steel spheres aboard the spacecraft, designed to send tiny pentagonal …

HistoryHistory of Exploration

The First Time NASA Photographed a Lunar Lander

The Odysseus lunar lander built by Intuitive Machines (IM) recently became the first U.S. robot on the Moon’s surface since the Surveyor landers in the 1960s. Earlier this week, IM worked with NASA to get pictures of the lander from orbit. The resulting image is impressive, showing the lander as a tiny speck in the …

HistoryHistory of Exploration

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