Apollo: mission to the moon

Astronaut Gene Cernan is pictured in the Command Module during the outbound trip from the moon during the Apollo 17 mission in December, 1972. The photograph is one of more than 12,000 from NASA's archives recently aggregated on the Project Apollo...more

Astronaut Charles "Pete" Conrad Jr., Apollo 12 commander, stands beside the United States flag on the lunar surface during the first extravehicular activity November 16, 1969. REUTERS/NASA/Handout

The expended Saturn IVB stage is pictured from the Apollo 7 spacecraft during transposition and docking maneuvers October 11, 1968. REUTERS/NASA/Handout

Earth rises above the moon's horizon during the Apollo 11 lunar mission in July 1969. REUTERS/NASA/Handout

Astronaut Walter Cunningham, Apollo 7 lunar module pilot, is photographed during the Apollo 7 mission in October 1968. REUTERS/NASA/Handout

Astronaut John L. Swigert Jr. (R), command module pilot, and an unidentified astronaut work with some of the temporary hose connections and apparatus which were necessary when the three Apollo astronauts moved from the Command Module to use the...more

Astronaut Edwin E. "Buzz" Aldrin Jr., lunar module pilot, walks on the surface of the moon near the leg of the Lunar Module (LM) "Eagle" during the Apollo 11 extravehicular activity (EVA) July 20, 1969. REUTERS/NASA/Handout

The "mail box," a jury-rigged arrangement which the crew men built to use the CM lithium hydroxide canisters to scrub CO2 from the spacecraft's atmosphere, is pictured during the Apollo 13 mission in April 1970. REUTERS/NASA/Handout

An astronaut's boot and bootprint in the lunar soil is pictured during the Apollo 11 lunar surface extravehicular activity July 20, 1969. REUTERS/NASA/Handout

Scientist-astronaut Harrison H. Schmitt is photographed seated in the Lunar Roving Vehicle (LRV) at Station 9 (Van Serg Crater) during the third Apollo 17 extravehicular activity (EVA) at the Taurus-Littrow landing site during the Apollo 17 mission...more

Astronaut Neil A. Armstrong, Apollo 11 commander, is pictured inside the Lunar Module (LM) while the LM rested on the lunar surface during the Apollo 11 mission July 20, 1969. REUTERS/NASA/Handout

Astronaut Edwin E. Aldrin Jr., lunar module pilot, descends the steps of the Lunar Module (LM) ladder as he prepares to walk on the moon during the Apollo 11 mission July 20, 1969. REUTERS/NASA/Handout

Astronaut Ronald E. Evans is photographed performing extravehicular activity during the Apollo 17 spacecraft's trans-Earth coast December 17, 1972. REUTERS/NASA/Handout

The surface of the moon is pictured during the Apollo 11 mission July 21, 1969. REUTERS/NASA/Handout

Astronaut Alan L. Bean, Lunar Module LM pilot, deploys the Apollo Lunar Surface Experiments Package ALSEP during the Apollo 12 mission November 19, 1969. REUTERS/NASA/Handout

David R. Scott, command module pilot, stands in the open hatch of the Command Module (CM) during extravehicular activity (EVA), on the fourth day of the Apollo 9 Earth-orbital mission March 6, 1969. REUTERS/NASA/Handout

Scientist-astronaut Harrison H. Schmitt is photographed standing next to a huge, split boulder during the third Apollo 17 extravehicular activity (EVA) at the Taurus-Littrow landing site on the moon during the Apollo 17 mission December 13, 1972....more

Astronaut Eugene A. Cernan, Apollo 17 commander, is photographed inside the lunar module on the lunar surface following the second extravehicular activity (EVA) of his mission December 12, 1972. REUTERS/NASA/Handout

Scientist-astronaut Harrison Schmitt, Apollo 17 lunar module pilot, uses an adjustable sampling scoop to retrieve lunar samples during the second Apollo 17 extravehicular activity December 12, 1972. REUTERS/NASA/Handout

The plaque which the Apollo 11 astronauts left on the moon in commemoration of the historic lunar landing mission is pictured July 20, 1969. The plaque reads: "Here men from the planet Earth first set foot upon the Moon July 1969, A.D. We came in...more

Astronaut Alan L. Bean holds a Special Environmental Sample Container filled with lunar soil collected during the Apollo 12 mission November 19, 1969. Mission commander Charles Conrad Jr., who took this picture, is reflected in Bean's helmet visor....more

Astronaut Edwin E. Aldrin Jr., lunar module pilot, is pictured in the Apollo 11 Lunar Module (LM) during the lunar landing mission July 20, 1969. REUTERS/NASA/Handout

Astronaut Russell L. Schweickart, lunar module pilot, operates a 70mm Hasselblad camera during his extravehicular activity (EVA) on the fourth day of the Apollo 9 Earth-orbital mission March 6, 1969. REUTERS/NASA/Handout

The Apollo 9 Lunar Module (LM), "Spider", is pictured in a lunar landing configuration, as photographed from the Command and Service Modules (CSM) on the fifth day of the Apollo 9 Earth-orbital mission March 7, 1969. REUTERS/NASA/Handout

Earth is pictured from 10,000 nautical miles away during the Apollo 11 mission July 16, 1969. REUTERS/NASA/Handout