Apollo 1 crew relaxing after “water egress” training Courtesy of NASA

WHEN it comes to illustrating humanity’s achievements in space, NASA’s back catalogue is as good as it gets. The images here are all part of a book tracing the agency’s 60 years of existence using more than 400 photographs.

The big launches, moon landings, starscapes and Martian panoramas all make the cut, alongside plenty of striking views from behind the scenes, images that give a human scale to NASA’s vast technological endeavours.

“Of course, many of the well-known shots were too beautiful to leave out, but we also wanted plenty of lesser-known images, so there was a big effort to delve into obscure archives,” says Piers Bizony, the book’s author and editor.


A big focus is the Apollo project to put people on the moon, as these picture show.

While the book covers decades of effort to reach the great beyond, it also has a message about the stewardship of our home planet. “The fact remains that we cannot relocate 7 billion people,” says Bizony. “Earth has to be our priority in terms of securing a successful future for humanity.”

In another 60 years, hopefully with threats to humanity overcome, someone may trawl NASA’s archives for a sequel. Who knows what they will hold. As Bizony says, maybe there will be images of microbial life on another world or of the spiked pattern of a radio signal from an intelligent extraterrestrial entity.

A lunar landing research vehicle flown by the likes of Neil Armstrong to train for the moon landings Ralph Morse/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty

The radio systems of an Apollo spacecraft being tested in a chamber designed to simulate the echo-free depths of space Ralph Morse/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty

Apollo 11 crew Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong Courtesy of NASA

Computer scientist and mathematician Annie Easley Courtesy of NASA

Putting people on the moon was a huge project for NASA, one that required dedicated engineers, astronauts and computer scientists. Seen here is the space shuttle Discovery docked with the International Space Station in 2005 Courtesy of NASA

Mae Jemison, the first African-American woman in space, aboard space shuttle Endeavour Courtesy of NASA

The faint glow surrounding a shuttle, the result of nitrogen in its thermal cladding reacting with oxygen in the very thin atmosphere in low Earth orbit Courtesy of NASA

Above: Apollo 9 crew member David Scott tests spacesuit systems for lunar operations. Below: a Soyuz rocket takes off. It’s one of the most reliable designs of the past 60 years, and still in use today Courtesy of NASA

A Soyuz rocket takes off. It’s one of the most reliable designs of the past 60 years, and still in use today. Courtesy of NASA

The NASA Archives: 60 years in space, edited by Piers Bizony, will be published by Taschen.