Go for Liftoff

The Moon, as seen from lunar orbit during NASA’s Apollo 12 mission, November 14-24, 1969. (NASA/ASU)

The Gemini 11 space capsule passes over Florida as it orbits the Earth on September 14, 1966. (NASA/ASU)

ONE YEAR AGO TODAY: A volcano in the Aleutian Islands lets off some steam, as seen by astronaut Scott Kelly from the International Space Station, January 2, 2016.

—Carrie Fisher

TODAY IN HISTORY: The Apollo 9 spacecraft inches its way to Launch Complex 39 at Cape Canaveral, January 3, 1969. (NASA)

Behold Saturn, glimpsed by the Voyager 2 space probe on June 30, 1981.

Apollo 16 blasts off on April 16, 1972. (NASA)

December 12, 1972 – In the distance, Apollo 17 astronaut Gene Cernan is in the moon buggy near the lunar module. (NASA)

The Space Shuttle Columbia in the Vehicle Assembly Building at Cape Canaveral, November 1980. (NASA)