
The Apollo 11 lunar landing was the first major space flight.
It was the only mission to land humans on the Moon.
But the Apollo 11 mission has been overshadowed by the recent development of the Dragon spacecraft, the next generation of NASA’s Mars rovers, and the new, smaller space taxis that are currently in development.
In fact, NASA has had its own version of a lunar lander in development for more than two decades.
The Apollo missions of the 1960s and ’70s took us into deep space to visit the moon, but the Apollo 12 mission was the closest we had to landing humans on Earth.
Here are some of the most amazing photos taken from Apollo 12, including the historic docking with the Soviet Soyuz spacecraft.
1 / 12 The Apollo 12 landing mission, the closest that we’ve come to landing on the moon.
It took place on April 12, 1972.
NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter photographed this view of the landing site.
The spacecraft is pictured on a lunar surface at a distance of 4,400 miles (8,500 kilometers).
NASA/John Young/KIROS-14 Mission Control via Getty Images 2 / 12 A NASA astronaut is shown during a Lunar Landing Experiment on Apollo 12 in 1972.
This photo was taken by Lunar Recorder 3 / 12 NASA astronaut Mark Padgett takes a photograph of the Apollo Lunar Landing Vehicle, or LMV, at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
This was the fourth lunar landing mission of the space program.
The LMV landed on April 11, 1972 and returned to Earth the next day.
NASA/NASA-JPL-Caltech/John M. Stennis/Aurora Lunar Photography via Getty 4 / 12 An astronaut takes a photo of the LMV landing site in 1972 on the far side of the Moon during the Apollo lunar landing.
This image was taken with the Lunar Recorders 3 camera.
NASA / Mark P. Young/Spaceflight Now 5 / 12 This Apollo 12 image shows a view of a site in the far east of the moon that is the site of a landing site for a spacecraft called Lunar Reconsiderator-2, or LRV-2.
The mission is the first of the Lunar Lunar Reconstruction Vehicle (LLRV), a spacecraft designed to transport people and equipment to the Moon and return them to Earth.
This is a version of the first spacecraft, which launched in 1971.
The LLRV’s LMV capsule will carry the Lunar Prospector lander, or LPS-1, which is expected to land on the lunar surface.
This LPS lander will carry humans and equipment back to Earth for a five-year mission to the surface.
The Lunar Reconaissance Vehicle is expected in 2021.
NASA.com 6 / 12 After the LM, the lunar landers are lowered by the Lunar Surface Support Vehicle (LSV) into a docking configuration.
NASA NASA/L.
Griesemer/USGS/AP/NASA Johnson 6 / 13 A Lunar Surface Reconnaissance Vehicle lands on the surface of the lunar crater, C-15.
The lander is scheduled to be launched in 2021, while the Lunar Probes 2 and 3 landers will be launched by 2022.
NASA 7 / 13 The Lunar Probe 2 lands on lunar surface, about 200 meters (660 feet) downrange.
NASA 8 / 13 This Apollo Lunar Reconnaisance Mission 1 spacecraft lands on a landing pad on the west side of a crater on the south side of C-12, which NASA says is a “smaller crater”.
The landing pad was originally built to allow the crew of Apollo 11 to dock with the spacecraft on the Apollo 16 lunar surface and land their lunar module.
The landing site is not visible in this image.
NASA 9 / 13 Apollo 12 landed on a small crater, called “C-12”.
This image is from NASA’s LSRV-3, the second mission of this series of lunar landing vehicles.
NASA 10 / 13 NASA’s Moon Express rover is launched on the back of the LRV as part of the upcoming Lunar Recovid.
The Moon Express mission will take samples from the surface and return to Earth by 2020.
NASA 11 / 13 As the Moon Express crew prepares to land, a lunar rover on the rear of the spacecraft is seen landing on a crater near the crater.
NASA 12 / 13 An astronaut views the lunar rover Curiosity on the rover side of Lunar Recoils 2, 3, and 4, the third and fourth spacecraft of the LSRVs.
NASA 13 / 13 During the lunar landing of Apollo 12 on April 10, 1972, this NASA astronaut takes pictures of the splashdown of the second Lunar Probing Vehicle (LPV) on the east side of Mauna Kea, Hawaii.
NASA 14 / 13 Astronauts aboard the Apollo 10 mission, including Mark