Smithsonian Showcases 15 Images of US Space Achievements

Smithsonian magazine published a photo essay featuring 15 images of American space exploration accomplishments, captured by various photographers between 2009 and 2024. The images include a Delta IV rocket launch in Florida (2020), a SpaceX Falcon 9 flying over Ponce Inlet lighthouse (2024), a young visitor at Kennedy Space Center in a Gemini capsule (2020), and the launch of Northrop Grumman's Antares rocket from Virginia (2020). Other photos show Air Force and Navy rescue training (2021), Alan Shepard's spacesuit at Kennedy Space Center (2017), a rocket seen from Arizona's Kofa Mountains (2024), the Space Shuttle Discovery at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center (2018), NASA's Vehicle Assembly Building (2023), the International Space Station crossing the moon (2018), support divers assisting UAE astronaut Sultan Al Neyadi in Houston (2021), a US flag with the Ares I-X rocket (2009), the Space Shuttle Discovery's wing in a hangar (2012), Artemis 1 at Launch Complex 39B (2022), and an Atlas V rocket vapor trail (2022). The essay was curated by photo editor Jeff Campagna and senior editor Tracy Scott Forson.