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11 Photos From NASA Photographer Bill Ingalls, Space Award Winner

NASA Photographer Bill Ingalls has taken us along on explorations in space for more than three decades; here are 11 of his favorite photos.

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Now retired U.S. astronaut Cady Coleman is shown as the Russian space capsule Soyuz TMA-20, Zhezkazgan​, landed in a remote area in Kazakhstan, on Tuesday, May 24, 2011, after a mission to the International Space Station.
Now retired U.S. astronaut Cady Coleman is shown as the Russian space capsule Soyuz TMA-20, Zhezkazgan​, landed in a remote area in Kazakhstan, on Tuesday, May 24, 2011, after a mission to the International Space Station. (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

ACROSS AMERICA — Bill Ingalls hasn’t been to the moon, but his photos over the more than three decades as NASA’s top photographer could convince you otherwise.

Ingalls is the 2021 winner of the Douglas S. Morrow Public Outreach Award announced Wednesday by the Space Foundation, a nonprofit space advocacy organization, which said his photos have contributed greatly to the public’s understanding of aeronautics and its impact on humankind.

“Bill Ingalls’ gifts and contributions to the global space community in capturing the people, missions and achievements of space exploration across more than three decades makes him a more-than-worthy recipient of this award,” Space Foundation CEO Tom Zelibor said in a news release.

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“Like the award’s namesake, Bill has connected people far and wide and truly touched the world with his work. It is visual artistry like his that opens eyes, hearts and minds to what we as a species are capable of doing when we work together.”

As senior contract photographer for NASA headquarters since 1989, Bill Ingalls used his camera to take Americans along for some of space’s most historic and dramatic moments.

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He has photographs from inside an active volcano capturing the Dante II robot, inside of a hurricane on a DC-8, and in subzero temperatures to capture the return of U.S. astronauts aboard Russian Soyuz.

Known as the man behind the lens, his photographs portray emotions from triumph to contemplation. He captured moments such as Space Shuttle Endeavor’s final landing, the first launch of a U.S. citizen on a Russian rocket, and the burial at sea of Neil Armstrong.

Here's a small collection of photos from his years with NASA:

A Marine honor guard flanks John Glenn as he lies in state in the Ohio Capitol. Glenn was a U.S. Marine Corps aviator before he joined NASA's space program, where he was the third American in space and the first to orbit the Earth, circling it three times in 1962. NASA photographer Bill Ingalls had a close relationship with Glenn and his wife, Annie, for many years. (Bill Ingalls/NASA)
The International Space Station appears as a dot against the sun during a solar eclipse. (Bill Ingalls/NASA)
Bill Ingalls has documented Russian as well as U.S. space expeditions as a NASA photographer. In this photo, a Russian Soyuz rocket is shown at liftoff on a mission to the International Space Station. (Bill Ingalls/NASA)
Astronaut Tracy Caldwell Dyson, pictured at the Johnson Space Center, prepares for underwater neutral buoyancy training in which astronauts gain greater understanding that when in space, they won't be able to use their weight to provide force and how they can reposition themselves to complete their tasks. (Bill Ingalls/NASA)
The ground crew at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California celebrates a milestone during the Marx Exploration Program that includes the rover Perseverance and a small rototic, coaxial helicopter called Ingenuity. (Bill Ingalls/NASA)
A Russian orthodox priests blesses a Soyuz rocket at a preview launch. (Bill Ingalls/NASA)
The U.S. Capitol is pictured in the foreground of a photo the partial solar eclipse on June 10. (Bill Ingalls/NASA)
This photo, taken from an abandoned building adjacent to NASA Wallops Island, Virginia, launchpad, shows the liftoff of a rocket en route to the International Space Station to deliver fresh supplies to astronauts. (Bill Ingalls/NASA)
NASA's Kennedy Space Center has some of the healthiest estuarine habitat in Florida. This photo was taken with a remote camera to capture both wildlife and the launch of the Mars rover Perseverance. (Bill Ingalls/NASA)
NASA photographer chooses his vantage point to turn ordinary events such as a moonrise into art. (Bill Ingalls/NASA)

Ingalls will receive the award Aug. 23 during the 36th Space Symposium opening ceremony, to be held at The Broadmoor in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The ceremony will also be simulcast online as part of Space Symposium’s all-new virtual experience.

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