This summer marks the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing. Everyone knows the famous photographs of Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walking on the surface of the moon. Lesser-known are the photos of what took place back on Earth. Recently, we searched the NASA images archive for some of the seldom-seen images of the 1969 lunar mission. These images show the trappings of the space age: Engineers in skinny ties, scientists with serious expressions, space buffs camping out in Detroit-built station wagons, and above all, the sublime awesomeness of being an astronaut.

All photos via NASA

Apollo 11 astronaut Neil Armstrong, seen with the helicopter he flew to practice landing the Lunar Module.

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Electric #6 © Thomas Kneubühler

Thomas Kneubühler’s “Electric Mountains” photographs are currently being exhibited at ProjexMtl Galerie in Montréal. When he first visited Canada, the Swiss-born Kneubühler became interested in photographing mountains lit for night skiing because they reminded him of an “installation or land-art project,” he says in his artist’s statement. Working in freezing temperatures with a set of snowshoes, topographic maps and a Sinar 4×5 camera, Kneubühler made the images with four-minute exposures on color negative film.

Photo © Kate Barden and Bruce Cramer.

Chainsaw carver Tim Klock with his life size chess set, photographed last summer on his carving grounds in Altoona, PA. The photo team of Kate Barden and Bruce Cramer turned what they thought would be a single character study into a year-long look at chainsaw carvers, an exotic and rapidly growing subculture of outsider artists. View a gallery of their pictures at www.kbpictures.com/chainsawcarvers.

© James Pomerantz

Images taken by James Pomerantz in Mexico at a cenote, a natural sinkhole that connects to a subterranean body of water. For the Mayans, the cenotes were sources of fresh water and were considered portals to the afterlife. Today they are frequented by tourists and locals who bathe in the cool water.

“The photographs were all made with a large format camera on an elevated ledge about 40 feet above the water,” Pomerantz says. (more…)

Photo © Kristina Williamson.

Backed by a 2004 J. William Fulbright grant, New York-based photographer Kristina Williamson spent over a year on the Greek island of Kythera. Emigration away from the island has left many homes vacant or abandoned. The project examined the interactions between tradition and modernization among those who continue to live in Kythera. To see more photos, visit Williamson’s web site.

This image is part of “One Year on Kythera,” a photography exhibition on display at the Woodrow Wilson Center for International Scholars in Washington D.C. through August 21, 2009. More Information.