For me, this is a great photograph of space technology. The photo shows astronaut Dave Williams preparing to install a replacement control moment gyroscope (CMG). The CMG weighs about 600 lbs on Earth and contains a 220 lb (100 kg) wheel that, when activated, spins at 6600 rpm. Four of these work together to control the attitude of the International Space Station. They use their gyroscopic properties to stabilize the vehicle or to rotate it, when needed.
The picture is personally important because I spent eleven years as the CMG Subject Matter Expert and trained every crew member and flight controller that had to interface with the CMGs.
This next picture is a truly amazing photograph that is important for a lot of people in the space industry. It is an extremely rare viewpoint. The photo was taken by Italian astronaut Paolo Nespoli. He took it through the Soyuz window as he and his two crew mates flew around the ISS before heading home. It was the first time a Soyuz had ever undocked while a Space Shuttle Orbiter was docked to the ISS. Every other picture of the Orbiter and ISS together was taken from a camera attached to the ISS. On the far right of the stack is the European ATV.
This photo is wonderful because it is a fusion of incredible technical achievement and the human soul. It shows astronaut Tracy Caldwell-Dyson in the Cupola module, taking in the awesome sight of the Earth, from 220 miles up. From that vantage point, the astronauts acquire a perspective both visual and conceptual of the fragility, beauty, and smallness of the Earth.
This is a humbling photograph of a human being standing on the Moon, alive thanks to the technology of his suit. There thanks to the technology of the lander, and able to explore thanks to the technology of his rover. And just 67 years earlier man had first flown 852 feet. There were people watching this Apollo 15 moment on television that were alive before the Wright Brothers’ first flight.
Finally, this photo shows the incredible scale of the Saturn V rocket. An amazing towering beast of a machine – as tall as the Statue of Liberty and a quarter as powerful as the massive Hoover Dam.
