Description
Every crewed Apollo mission represented in one painting, to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the first Moon landing. As your eye takes you to the Moon in the centre of the painting, you are taken on a symbolic tour of each crewed mission. The symbol for each mission is highlighted in bold below.
Apollo 1 ended in tragedy when Roger Chaffee, Gus Grissom, and Ed White died during a training exercise aboard a command module. During their training they studied celestial navigation, and had the opportunity to pick names for stars. Regor was chosen by Roger Chaffee, Navi by Gus Grissom, and Dnoces by Ed White. They are represented by the groups of three stars.
Apollo 7 was the first crewed test flight of the command module.
Apollo 8 was the first crewed flight of the mighty Saturn V rocket, and it was the first time humans ever left Earth orbit.
Apollo 9 was the first crewed flight of the Lunar Module.
After the successful flights of all crucial hardware, Apollo 10 was the dress rehearsal for the Moon landing. The Command Module was named ‘Charlie Brown’ and the Lunar Module was named ‘Snoopy’, which is also the nickname for the headgear worn by the astronauts (due to its resemblance to the Peanuts’ character).
Apollo 11 was the first time a human set foot on the Moon, and is represented by the footprints.
During the Apollo 12 mission the astronauts set down near the Surveyor 3 probe, which had landed on the moon in 1967. It was the first and only time that humans have visited a probe that had been sent to explore another world.
Apollo 13 is often referred to as NASA’s “successful failure”. An electrical fault meant that the mission had to be cut short, and the lives of the crew were in very real danger. One of the fixes they had to put in place to ensure their own survival was an improvised CO2 scrubber.
Alan Shepard, the first American in space, commanded the Apollo 14 mission. Whilst on the surface of the moon he hit two golfballs with a makeshift club.
During Apollo 15, commander Dave Scott validated Galileo’s theory that in the absence of air resistance two objects would fall at the same rate. He dropped a hammer and feather at the same time, and they did indeed land together.
Charlie Duke was the youngest person to walk on the Moon, and during Apollo 16 he left a family photo on the surface.
Apollo 17 was the last mission of the Apollo program, and the last time that a human set foot on the Moon. It was the first time that a scientist left Earth orbit, and the first time a scientist set foot on the Moon. During his time on the Moon, geologist Harrison Schmitt discovered orange soil on the surface of the moon.
In addition to the symbolism for each mission, there is one command module for each crewed mission, one star for each person who journeyed to the Moon, and one footprint for each of the twelve men who set foot on the surface.
10% of all sale proceeds go to the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation, a not-for-profit organisation that annually funds more than 50 STEM scholarships. You can read more about their outstanding work here: Astronaut Scholarship Foundation.
Apollo 50th Anniversary – Giclée print, individually signed by the artist.
