Apollo 11: Catching Some Sun
Bright sunlight glints as long dark shadows mark this image of the
surface of the Moon.
It was taken
fifty-four
years ago, July 20, 1969, by Apollo 11 astronaut
Neil Armstrong,
the first to walk on the lunar surface.
Pictured
is the mission's lunar module, the Eagle,
and spacesuited lunar module pilot Buzz Aldrin.
Aldrin is unfurling a long sheet of foil also known as the
Solar Wind Composition Experiment.
Exposed facing the Sun, the foil trapped particles streaming
outward in the solar wind, catching a sample of
material from the Sun itself.
Along with moon rocks and lunar soil samples,
the solar wind collector was returned for analysis
in earthbound laboratories.