NASA ‘Photographer of the Year’ Winners Revealed, Here are Five Highlights

Photo credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls (L) | NASA/Jim Ross (R)
NASA ‘Photographer of the Year’ winners have just been revealed, and for 2021, you’ll see that NASA’s Johnson Space Center was prominently featured in many of the award-winning shots. All of them show pivotal moments documenting human space exploration for this generation and the ones to come. First up, we have the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) spacecraft loaded on top.

xEMU Antenna – Norah Moran

Here we see an xEMU Antenna test being performed in the B14 Anechoic Chamber. This is a necessary test to inspect MLI keep out zones for the antennas. This image was captured from where the ‘horn’ is located, the section that sends out radio frequency signals for test. The xEMU Test article is called xGUS and the successor to the EMU Test Article also named GUS (named after Gus Grissom and his iconic silver spacesuit). If NASA’s Curiosity rover could enter the contest, this doorway on Mars would have most certainly won an award.

LEGO NASA Space Shuttle Discovery 10283 Build and Display Model for Adults, New 2021 (2,354 Pieces)

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United States Navy Flight Demonstration Squadron, the Blue Angel – Dominic Hart

The Blue Angels crew tour the inlet of the NFAC’s 80-by-120-foot wind tunnel test section in building N221,” said NASA.

Test Subjects – Norah Moran

Test subjects Kelsey Young and Tess Caswell evaluate lunar field geology tasks as part of the Exploration Extravehicular Activity (xEVA) night operations development tests conducted at Johnson Space Center’s Rock Yard,” according to NASA.

Force Gauge Ring – Denny Henry

Engineering Technician Ryan Fischer torques the Force Gauge Ring on to the vibe table in preparation for vibration testing of the PACE spacecraft bus at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt Maryland on June 16th, 2021,” according to NASA.

NASA Astronaut Jonny Kim – Norah Moran

NASA astronaut Jonny Kim wearing a high-altitude pressure suit worn in the WB-57 aircraft, which is capable of flying at altitudes over 60,000 feet,” said NASA.