                        Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
      fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
                    written by a professional astronomer.

                                2023 July 29

                        Apollo 11: Catching Some Sun
        Image Credit: Apollo 11, NASA (Image scanned by Kipp Teague)

   Explanation: Bright sunlight glints as long dark shadows mark this
   image of the surface of the Moon. It was taken fifty-four years ago,
   July 20, 1969, by Apollo 11 astronaut Neil Armstrong, the first to walk
   on the lunar surface. Pictured is the mission's lunar module, the
   Eagle, and spacesuited lunar module pilot Buzz Aldrin. Aldrin is
   unfurling a long sheet of foil also known as the Solar Wind Composition
   Experiment. Exposed facing the Sun, the foil trapped particles
   streaming outward in the solar wind, catching a sample of material from
   the Sun itself. Along with moon rocks and lunar soil samples, the solar
   wind collector was returned for analysis in earthbound laboratories.

                     Tomorrow's picture: Sunday's Childe
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       Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
            NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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                             & Michigan Tech. U.

