After the Moonwalk

Iconic is Neil Armstrong’s photograph of Buzz Aldrin during the first moon walk, with Armstrong reflected in Aldrin’s visor. Much less well-known is this pair of photographs taken just after the moon walk. To my eyes, Armstrong seems exhausted but happy; Aldrin seems satisfied … and over his shoulder, almost casually, is a window, and outside the window is the lunar horizon, with its stunning airless black sky at day! Fifty years later, I still imagine A & A trying to catch a few zzzs … in hammocks … in their home … on the moon.

Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin in the LEM after the first moonwalk, Monday, July 21, 1969.