NASA and Rare Historical Pictures

 Wonderful pictures from historic NASA shots, as shared by "Rare Historical Pictures" blog and also sent to me as a newsletter.

It's always been good to consider how NASA geared up and sent men to the moon and back, and now nobody is doing that. 

Something about science, and politics perhaps, and the focus on Mars instead of the moon. Possibly the considerations of what could be mined on those different bodies in space.

RHP says this:

The early days of space exploration were marked by groundbreaking achievements, from historic Moon landings to awe-inspiring spacewalks.

These iconic NASA images capture the spirit of an era when humanity took its first steps beyond Earth.

NASA’s origins can be traced back to the Cold War, a time when technological dominance was as much a battlefield as any other.

The launch of Sputnik in 1957 by the Soviet Union sent shockwaves through the United States, prompting a swift response. Determined to assert leadership in space, American officials recognized the need for a dedicated agency to propel the nation forward.

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It's a bit awe inspiring to think that when I was still in high school and Eisenhower was president, we actually had a government that wanted us to go into space also, as a component of the cold war against the Soviet Union of communists.

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In 1958, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the National Aeronautics and Space Act, officially establishing NASA.

This new agency was tasked with closing the gap between the U.S. and its Soviet counterparts, igniting what became known as the Space Race.

Over the next decade, NASA embarked on a series of ambitious programs, Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo, each designed to push the limits of space exploration.

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I appreciated that this post talks about the purposes of each of these programs, Mercury, Gemini and Apollo.

Anyway, I'll just repost a couple of photos that appealed to me, and hope you check out the link above.

In 1959, Nancy Roman joined NASA. Just a year later, she was already serving as the Chief of the Astronomy and Relativity Programs in the Office of Space Science.

Ed White and James McDivitt pilot the Gemini 4 mission in 1965. This mission saw the first US spacewalk, which was performed by White.

Ed White, out for his famous spacewalk. June 1965.