Ed White performing the first American spacewalk on March 18, 1965. NASA / Carolyn Collins Petersen / Amberley Publishing / mediadrumworld.com

By Liana Jacob

FASCINATING retro photographs that will take you on a journey from the first brave space pioneers through to the incredible technological advances of today have been revealed in a new book.

Captivating images include Edwin Eugene ‘Buzz’ Aldrin walking on the lunar surface during the Apollo 11 mission on July 21, 1969. The photo was taken by Neil Armstrong, who was the first person to walk on the Moon.

Edward Eugene Aldrin walking on the lunar surface during the Apollo 11 mission on July 21, 1969. Neil Armstrong took the photo – is seen on helmet. NASA / Carolyn Collins Petersen / Amberley Publishing / mediadrumworld.com

 

Another photograph shows the Visual Impairment Intracranial Pressure (VIIP) Syndrome which was identified in 2005, and was a spaceflight risk, demonstrated by NASA astronaut Karen Nyberg, who is using a fundoscope to examine a colleague’s eye.

Further pictures illustrate Jupiter’s south pole, as seen by NASA’s Juno spacecraft from an altitude of 52,000 kilometres and NASA’s Cassini spacecraft took the image of Saturn and its main rings.

Visual Impairment Intracranial Pressure (VIIP) Syndrome was identified in 2005, and a spaceflight risk. Here, NASA astronaut Karen Nyberg uses a fundoscope. NASA / Carolyn Collins Petersen / Amberley Publishing / mediadrumworld.com

 

The incredible pictures are part of a book called Space Exploration by writer and producer, Carolyn Collins Petersen. The book is published by Amberley Publishing.

“When I first set out to write this book, I was intrigued with the idea of how we will evolve into a spacefaring species,” she said.

This image shows Jupiter’s south pole, as seen by NASA’s Juno spacecraft from an altitude of 52,000 km. NASA / JPL-Caltech / SwRI / MSSS / Betsy Asher Hall / Gervasio Robles / Carolyn Collins Petersen / Amberley Publishing / mediadrumworld.com

 

“I decided I wanted the book to answer the question, ‘what does it take to build a spacefaring civilisation?’ for readers who may ask the same question but haven’t had a chance to read much about how we came to be in the Space Age.”

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government responsible for the civilian space program, as well as aeronautics and aerospace research.

NASA astronaut Tracey Caldwell Dyson looks through a window in the Cupola of the ISS. NASA / Carolyn Collins Petersen / Amberley Publishing / mediadrumworld.com

 

It was established by Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1958. The first Briton to be independently sent to space without being privately contracted or taking on foreign citizenship is Tim Peake, a British Army Air Corps officer, European Space Agency astronaut and a former International Space Station crew member. He launched successfully from the International Space Station on December 15, 2015, for Expeditions 46 and 47.

Dr Robert H Goddard and his liquid oxygen-gasoline rocket on March 8, 1926. NASA / Esther C. Goddard / Carolyn Collins Petersen / Amberley Publishing / mediadrumworld.com

 

He is the first British ESA astronaut, the second astronaut to bear a flag of the UK patch.

“The history of space exploration is a complex story. It involves talking about the work of men and women with vision and genius and tenacity who wanted to get us to space,” Carolyn said.

ESA astronaut Thomas Pesquet is photographed during a spacewalk in Jan 2017. NASA / Carolyn Collins Petersen / Amberley Publishing / mediadrumworld.com

 

“They did what it took to accomplish the first flights, build the first robots to Mars, and so on. It is also a story about science and technology invented and applied and pursued at universities, research institutions, space agencies, by governments and private industry.”

Space Exploration is published by Amberley Publishing and is available here: https://www.amberley-books.com/space-exploration-9781445689425.html