Apollo 11: Catching Some Sun

Shining daylight hours glints as lengthy darkish shadows mark this image of the surface of the Moon. It used to be taken fifty-four years ago, July 20, 1969, by Apollo 11 astronaut Neil Armstrong, the principle to maneuver on the lunar surface. Pictured is the mission’s lunar module, the Eagle, and spacesuited lunar module pilot Buzz Aldrin. Aldrin is unfurling a lengthy sheet of foil moreover known as the Impart voltaic Wind Composition Experiment. Exposed facing the Sun, the foil trapped particles streaming outward within the solar wind, catching a sample of self-discipline material from the Sun itself. Alongside with moon rocks and lunar soil samples, the solar wind collector used to be returned for diagnosis in earthbound laboratories.