Reflections on the History of Science, Exploration, and Technology
In 1966 and 1967, NASA sent five robotic spacecraft into orbit around the Moon. Constructed for the primary purpose of finding landing sites for Apollo, the Lunar Orbiters also enabled nearly comprehensive mapping of the Moon in stunning detail. The quantity and resolution of the photographs returned by Lunar Orbiter was unprecedented, thanks to a Continue reading Kodak s Pre-Invented Lunar…
Last week, people flew around the Moon. It feels surreal to be able to type those words. When I talk to people who witnessed the Apollo program, I like to ask them what they remember. Most were children at the time, and their answer is often some version of: Oh, I wanted to be an Continue reading The Echoes of Apollo
Lunar exploration has always held a strange position in the history of exploration. For all of human history, people have been staring up at the Moon, and for centuries astronomers used telescopes to study the lunar surface. The telescopic surveying and mapping of the Moon by astronomers can (and should, I think) be considered a Continue reading Exploring the Far Side of the Moon: A Visual History
This morning, as I sipped my coffee, I took in the view of a crescent Earth from the perspective of astronauts heading toward the Moon. It’s the first time this has been possible in over 50 years. Yesterday, as I awaited the launch of Artemis II, I watched the CBS broadcast of Apollo 8, in Continue reading Standing By : Science Communication on Apollo 8
In Highlights, I share a collection of interesting history things I ve come across recently. In this edition: an interesting map, an atmospheric nuclear detonation, and Ursula le Guin s version of the Tao Te Ching. I was recently gifted The Library of Lost Maps by James Cheshire. One of the maps he uses to introduce the Continue reading History Highlights 5: Air Age Maps, Nukes in the Sky, and the…
In Exploration Review, I collect news from the last couple weeks about the exploration of remote places. In this edition: return to the Moon, asteroid science, and tiny underwater robots. Special Note for the few of you who currently subscribe both to my Substack and my history blog at invertingvision.com: This year, I m going to Continue reading Exploration Review 6: Return to the Moon
The first spacecraft from Earth to touch another world carried no people, but it did carry a unique sort of flag. Early on the morning of September 14, 1959, the Soviet space probe Luna 2 impacted the surface of the Moon. Engineers had placed stainless steel spheres aboard the spacecraft, designed to send tiny pentagonal Continue reading Spectacle on Other Worlds
It’s been a while since my last post, so I wanted to get back to the blog with an update on what I’ve been working on, and what s next in 2025. This summer I was lucky enough to start working with JSTOR Daily as a regular contributor. JSTOR is a large digital repository of academic Continue reading Updates
The Odysseus lunar lander built by Intuitive Machines (IM) recently became the first U.S. robot on the Moon s surface since the Surveyor landers in the 1960s. Earlier this week, IM worked with NASA to get pictures of the lander from orbit. The resulting image is impressive, showing the lander as a tiny speck in the Continue reading The First Time NASA Photographed a Lunar Lander
My schedule has become highly variable due to grad school and freelance work. I m currently working on a series of posts about scientific photography on the British Antarctic Expedition so far you can read a short introduction, and a post about Herbert Ponting s early photographs of animals and ice. I m still working on the next post Continue reading History Highlights 4: Darwin s Wild Ride,…
