Apollo 12 was definitely the comedic interlude of the American Moon landing program. Sandwiched between the historic "giant leap" of Apollo 11 and the riveting "successful failure" of Apollo 13, the mission—which began with its own near-failure, after a series of lightning strikes at launch—became retrospectively known for its pranks, laughter, and light-hearted camaraderie among astronauts Pete Conrad, Alan Bean, and Dick Gordon.
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That sense of fun is reflected in many of the photos taken by Conrad and Bean, after they touched down in the southeastern region of the Ocean of Storms. There are a few places you can browse through the astronauts off-Earth vacation pictures, including this expansive collection hosted by the Lunar and Planetary Institute, and it's surprising how reminiscent they can be of modern Instagram photos—especially the rolls taken with the crew's Hasselblad cameras.For one thing, dozens of Apollo 12 images are overexposed, or have lens flares, both of which are common fallbacks for fledgling photographers on social media. In the Instagram world, this use of light is often used to add a little superficial sparkle to otherwise dull scenes. But against the literally otherworldly backdrop of the Apollo 12 landing site, they can add a mesmerizing and ethereal quality to the astronauts' shots.
On the other end of the brightness spectrum, Conrad and Bean clearly got a real kick out of their Moon shadows, and ended up taking dozens of photos of them.
Conrad and Bean also took some great action shots of each other fulfilling their duties on the Moon, including these two shots of Bean deploying a suite of instruments called the Apollo Lunar Surface Experiment Package (ALSEP).
And though Gordon didn't walk on the Moon, he took some amazing photos from his vantagepoint in the command module, including this view of the lunar module's departure from the Ocean of Storms.
The slideshow didn't end with Conrad and Bean's rendezvous with Gordon, however. Some of the most dramatic photos from Apollo 12 were from the return trip, which included a space-eye view of a total eclipse of the Sun by the Earth on November 21, 1969.
All of the images have the feel that so many on Instagram aim to emulate with vintage-inspired filters, for the very obvious reason that they were taken with film cameras. It's become so prevalent to see this aesthetic used for brunch photos or selfies that it's kind of refreshing to revisit photos that captured Moon landings and solar eclipses with the same style. #nofilter #Apollo12 #NBD #YouHadToBeThere #blessed
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On the other end of the brightness spectrum, Conrad and Bean clearly got a real kick out of their Moon shadows, and ended up taking dozens of photos of them.
Conrad and Bean also took some great action shots of each other fulfilling their duties on the Moon, including these two shots of Bean deploying a suite of instruments called the Apollo Lunar Surface Experiment Package (ALSEP).
The slideshow didn't end with Conrad and Bean's rendezvous with Gordon, however. Some of the most dramatic photos from Apollo 12 were from the return trip, which included a space-eye view of a total eclipse of the Sun by the Earth on November 21, 1969.
All of the images have the feel that so many on Instagram aim to emulate with vintage-inspired filters, for the very obvious reason that they were taken with film cameras. It's become so prevalent to see this aesthetic used for brunch photos or selfies that it's kind of refreshing to revisit photos that captured Moon landings and solar eclipses with the same style. #nofilter #Apollo12 #NBD #YouHadToBeThere #blessed
