Mission Gallery

Laika the space dog postcard

Laika the space dog postcard. Artwork on postcard of Laika, the bitch who became the first animal in space. She was launched aboard the Soviet Sputnik 2 spacecraft. Sputnik 2 was launched on 3 November 1957. Laika (meaning "Husky" or "Barker") was contained within a sealed cabin with a food store and an air conditioner. Soviet propaganda at the time maintained that she survived for about a week, but in fact she died after just a few hours due to overheating and panic. The spacecraft was not designed to be recovered and it burnt up as it re-entered the atmosphere on 14 April 1958, 162 days after its launch

© DETLEV VAN RAVENSWAAY/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY

Apollo 17 astronaut

Apollo 17 astronaut. US astronaut and geologist Dr Harrison Schmitt exploring the Taurus-Littrow region of the Moon, as part of NASA's Apollo 17 mission. He landed on the Moon on 11 December 1972, with mission commander Eugene Cernan. They spent 75 hours on the surface. Ron Evans remained in orbit in the command module. Dr Schmitt is the only scientist to have landed on the Moon. Apollo 17 was the last Apollo mission, and Schmitt and Cernan are the last people to have walked on the Moon. A total of 12 US astronauts walked on the Moon during the eleven manned Apollo missions, from 1968-1972

© NASA/VRS/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY

Apollo 17 sample of lunar basalt

Apollo 17 sample of lunar basalt. The dark areas visible on the Moon (the lunar maria) are plains of flood basaltic lava flows. Lunar basalts differ from terrestrial ones in their high iron content and wide range of titanium concentrations. Lunar basalts range from 4.2 to 1.2 billion years old, with most being around 3 to 3.5 billion years old. The Apollo moon landings from 1969 to 1972 returned 2, 415 samples and over 380 kilograms of moon rock. Studying moon rock helps reveal the conditions present in the early solar system when the Moon and Earth were forming. This sample has a diameter of 15 millimetres and weighs 1.1 grams

© DETLEV VAN RAVENSWAAY/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY