--- title: See the Most Iconic Photos in Space Travel History description: From the first photo of the dark side of the Moon to New Horizons' latest images of Pluto canonical: https://time.com/4058041/most-iconic-space-photos/ author: TIME Photo article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-10-02T23:38:23.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T05:01:24.275Z article:section: History og:title: These Are the Most Iconic Photos in Space Travel History og:description: From the first photo of the dark side of the moon to the latest images of Pluto og:url: https://time.com/4058041/most-iconic-space-photos/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde48638ffc3cbfe8/6988669d0b72e3ed7a6e625f/iconic-space-photos-armstrong-moon-nasa1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2100 og:image:height: 1181 og:image:alt: Apollo 11 : Aldrin sur la Lune og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: These Are the Most Iconic Photos in Space Travel History twitter:description: From the first photo of the dark side of the moon to the latest images of Pluto twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde48638ffc3cbfe8/6988669d0b72e3ed7a6e625f/iconic-space-photos-armstrong-moon-nasa1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # See the Most Iconic Photos in Space Travel History > Sponsored content. 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They are at time.com/newsletters and are separate from a paid subscription. by [TIME Photo](https://time.com/author/time-photo/) ## TIME Photo Oct 2, 2015 11:38 PM UTC  First Steps on the Moon, 1969; American astronaut Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin walking on the moon on July 20, 1969 during the Apollo 11 mission. First Steps on the Moon, 1969; American astronaut Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin walking on the moon on July 20, 1969 during the Apollo 11 mission. NASA by [TIME Photo](https://time.com/author/time-photo/) ## TIME Photo Oct 2, 2015 11:38 PM UTC  The Far Side of the Moon, 1959; Captured by the Luna 3 space craft, this image is the first views ever of the far side of the moon. NASA  The First Photo of the Earth, 1966; On Aug. 23, 1966, the world received its first view of Earth taken by the Lunar Orbiter I from the vicinity of the Moon. NASA  Scientists with First U.S. Satellite Model, 1958; William H, Pickering, James Van Allen, And Wernher Von Braun triumphantly raising a full-size model of the first U.S, Satellite, Explorer 1, at a press conference following the craft's launch on Jan. 31, 1958 Encyclopaedia Britannica/UIG/Getty Images  Yuri Gagarin, 1961; Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin was the first man to be in space. In this picture, he is in his capsule, during the flight. Sovfoto/UIG/Getty Images  Alan Shepard at the Launchpad, 1961; Alan Shepard strides toward his vessel, Freedom 7, to be first American into space. Ralph Morse—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Alan Shepard and JFK, 1961 Astronaut Alan B. Shepard receiving an award from President John F. Kennedy. Joseph Scherschel—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  America's First Space Walk, 1965; Astronaut Edward H. White II, pilot for the Gemini-Titan 4 space flight, floats in space during America's first spacewalk on June 3, 1965. NASA  Gemini 7, 1965; Gemini 7 as seen from Gemini 6 during its in tandem space flight. NASA  Astronauts Gus Grissom, Edward White and Roger Chaffee in front of the launch pad, 1967 The three astronauts stand in front of the launch pad before the tragic events of the Apollo 1 mission. Alex J. Langley  Incinerated remains of Apollo 1, 1967; The image was captured following the tragic disaster that struck the Apollo 1 mission. A fire inside the capsule caused the death of all three astronauts, 3 weeks before its planned launch. Getty Images  Earthrise, 1968; Titled Earthrise, shot by astronaut William Anders during the Apollo 8 mission has been called "the most influential environmental photograph ever taken." The photograph was taken from lunar orbit on Dec. 24, 1968 with a Hasselblad camera. NASA  Apollo 11 lifts off on its historic flight to the moon, 1969.; Apollo 11 space ship lifting off on historic flight to moon during which astronauts Edwin Aldrin & Neil Armstrong walked on lunar surface. Ralph Morse—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  First Steps on the Moon on Television, 1969; Kinescope images of astronaut Commander Neil Armstrong taking the first steps on the moon during the Apollo 11 Space Mission's moon landing for the first time in history. NBC/Getty Images  First Steps on the Moon, 1969; American astronaut Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin walking on the moon on July 20, 1969 during the Apollo 11 mission. NASA  Neil Armstrong's Footprint on the Moon, 1969; Footprint left by astronaut on lunar soil during Apollo 11 lunar mission in which astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin took walk on moon's surface. NASA  Blue Marble, 1972; The original "Blue Marble" was taken on Dec. 7, 1972, by the crew of the Apollo 17 spacecraft en route to the Moon at a distance of about 29,000 kilometres (18,000 mi). It shows Africa, Antarctica, and the Arabian Peninsula. NASA  Apollo 13's Command Module, 1970; A NASA picture taken on April 17, 1970 shows Apollo 13 damaged Service Module Odyssey, as photographed from the Command Module after being jettisoned. AFP/Getty Images  Saturn, 1973 Pioneer 11, launched by NASA on 6th April 1973, returned the first close-up pictures of the ringed planet Saturn. SSPL/Getty Images  Skylab in Orbit, 1973; An overhead view of the Skylab space station cluster in Earth orbit as photographed from the Skylab 4 Command and Service Modules (CSM) during the final fly-around by the CSM before returning home on May 14, 1973. NASA  The Surface of Mars, 1976; This is the first photograph ever taken on the surface of the planet Mars. It was obtained by Viking 1 just minutes after the spacecraft landed successfully on July 20, 1976. NASA  Jupiter's Great Red Spot, 1979; This dramatic view of Jupiter's Great Red Spot and its surroundings was obtained by Voyager 1 on Feb. 25, 1979. NASA  Saturn, 1980; Voyager 1's image of Saturn from 5.3 million km, four days after its closest approach. NASA  First Shuttle Lift Off, 1981; The STS-1 was the first orbital spaceflight of NASA's Space Shuttle Program. NASA  Bruce McCandless' Free Flying, 1984; Bruce McCandless II went further away from the confines and safety of his ship than any previous astronaut had ever been. This space first was made possible by the Manned Manoeuvring Unit or MMU, a nitrogen jet propelled backpack. SSPL/Getty Images  Challenger Explosion, 1987; The Space Shuttle Challenger explodes minutes after takeoff from Kennedy Space Flight Center Jan. 28, 1986 at Cape Canaveral, Fla. CNN/Getty Images  Hubble Captured The Horsehead Nebula, 1990; Astronomers used NASA's Hubble Space Telescope to photograph the iconic Horsehead Nebula in an infrared light to mark the 23rd anniversary of the famous observatory's launch aboard the space shuttle Discovery on April 24, 1990. STScI/AURA/ESA/NASA  Hubble Captures Galaxies Galore, 2004; The amazing Hubble Space Telescope, through a deep core sampling technique, captured a view of nearly 10,000 galaxies. NASA/ESA  The Hubble Captured The Pillars of Creation, 2015; Using NASA's Hubble Space Telescope astronomers have assembled a bigger and sharper photograph of the iconic Eagle Nebula's "Pillars of Creation" Hubble Heritage Team/ESA/NASA  Mars Rover Selfie, 2015; NASA's Mars Curiosity Rover captures a selfie to mark a full Martian year -- 687 Earth days -- spent exploring the Red Planet. NASA/JPL  Pluto's Heart, 2015; The New Horizons captured the entirety of Pluto. 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