The Art Of Apollo

Many of us who grew up with Apollo remember how hard it was in those days to find accurate, usable
information to build our models with.  Often, the best available information was in the form of artist’s
depictions from various magazines, especially those from National Geographic,
or as some of us call it now, “Nat Geo”.
Presented here are some of my favorite Nat Geo Apollo illustrations, along with a few others I’ve
culled in more recent years…..
Enjoy!

natgeo01anatgeo02anatgeo03a
Apollo 8 CSM & Saturn
diagram, from “Apollo 8: 
A Most Fantastic Voyage”
Vol. 135, No. 5, May 1969
Apollo 11 LM “Eagle” flies 
over Little West crater during 
final approach to landing. 
From “The Flight of Apollo 11: 
“One Giant Leap For Mankind””
Vol. 136, No. 6, December, 1969
Ascent Stage of Apollo 11 LM 
“Eagle” lifts off from Tranquility Base 
on the first leg of it’s voyage home. 
This is one of my all time favorites, 
because the artist, Pierre Mion, 
studied the TV downlink and the 
photos taken by the crew to accurately 
show the traverse routes and 
most of the equipment left behind. 
From “The Flight of Apollo 11: 
“One Giant Leap For Mankind””
Vol. 136, No. 6, December, 1969
natgeo04anatgeo05anatgeo06anatgeo07a
Apollo 11 CSM “Columbia” and LM 
“Eagle” ascent stage docked in lunar 
orbit.  The cutaway shows CMP 
Mike Collins in the tunnel, shaking 
hands with one of the LM crew. 
From “The Flight of Apollo 11: 
“One Giant Leap For Mankind””
Vol. 136, No. 6, December, 1969
Another one of my all time 
favorites, this illustration shows 
each landing site as a cross section 
showing what the scientists 
thought were the substructures 
beneath the surface. 
From “How We Solved the 
Mysteries of the Moon”,
Vol. 144, No. 3, 
September, 1973. 
This was the final issue of Nat 
Geo written about the Apollo 
program.
Apollo 15 LMP Jim Irwin against a 
dramatic backdrop of the moon, 
as seen by the CMP Al Worden 
during his trans-earth 
EVA to retrieve SIM 
Bay data canisters.
From “Apollo 15 Explores the 
Mountains of the Moon”
Vol. 141, 
No. 2, February, 1972.
Major components of the Apollo 
Lunar Surface Experiments 
Packages (ALSEPs) left behind 
on the moon by the 
Apollo crews.  From “How We 
Solved the Mysteries of the 
Moon”, Vol. 144, 
No. 3, September, 1973. 
 

Other illustrations, from different sources

rockwellas69 38662aa9eva asiemuasim a
Norman Rockwell 
painting of Apollo 
11 first step on to 
the moon.  This illustration 
was based on an early 
NASA photo of an 
astronaut rehearsing 
a moon walk. 
Click here to see the NASA photo.
Grumman artist’s 
depiction of Apollo 
11 first steop on 
to the moon. 
Compare to image at left.
NASA artist’s depiction of 
Apollo 9 EVA by LMP 
Rusty Schweikhart. 
The original plan to have him 
transfer from the LM to the 
CSM, as shown, was 
aborted when he 
developed motion sickness 
early in the mission.
Cutaway illustration of 
the Apollo A7-L 
Extravehicular Mobility 
Unit (lunar space suit). 
I like this one so 
much I use it on 
my web page on 
the subject!
A really beautiful NASA 
illustration of the trans-earth 
EVA performed on the 
J-Series Apollo missions
(15, 16, & 17) to 
retrieve the data 
canisters from the 
CSM SIM Bay.
Luna Spacey

Luna Spacey

Luna Spacey, a distinguished space researcher, earned her Ph.D. in Astrophysics from MIT, specializing in exotic matter near black holes. Joining NASA post-graduation, she significantly contributed to the discovery of gravitational waves, enriching cosmic understanding.With a 15-year stellar career, Luna has numerous published papers and is currently spearheading a dark matter research project. Beyond her profession, she’s an avid stargazer, dedicated to community science education through local school workshops.Luna also cherishes hiking and astrophotography, hobbies that harmoniously blend her admiration for nature and the cosmos, making her a revered figure in both the scientific and local communities.

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