Never-before-seen NASA photos of missions that paved way for Apollo 11

By Ben Barry

Never-before-seen photographs have been released showing NASA astronauts testing the limits of human endurance and the technology needed to get humans to the moon and back.

The restored photos from the archives have been released to mark the 60th anniversary of Gemini V - one of the missions from Project Gemini that came before Project Apollo, which put the first people on the moon.

Project Mercury was NASA's first human spaceflight programme, testing to see if humans could travel into orbit, from 1961 to 1963.

Project Gemini saw NASA learn how to fly, live, and work in space for two weeks - the time necessary to send people to the moon and back, between 1965 and 1966.

They paved the way for the Apollo 11 mission, when astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed on the moon on July 20, 1969, and photos of both programmes have now been restored and released.

Digital restoration expert, Andy Saunders, 51, spent over 10,000 hours restoring over 300 images from NASA's archives, many pulled from film so degraded they appeared completely blank before he began work.

Through these images, Andy hopes to show that "Apollo didn't come from nowhere" and that these programmes paved the way for the moon landings.

Andy, from Culcheth, Cheshire, said: "I hope they see that Apollo didn’t come from nowhere: it was built step by step, through Mercury and Gemini.

"These missions proved all of the fundamentals necessary to allow NASA to reach for the Moon: getting into space and back safely, long-duration missions, rendezvous and docking, surviving outside the spacecraft.

"They also show what real progress looks like: messy, imperfect, and hard-fought.

"In today’s world of instant gratification, these stories remind us that the most meaningful achievements come from resilience, creativity, and doing hard things that matter."

Andy said he had always intended to turn back the clock and dive into America's first space race.

He said the Gemini and Mercury missions were the "golden era" in the 1960s, when the dream of leaving Earth was becoming a reality.

Andy said: "The Mercury and Gemini missions are so important: not just in spaceflight history, but in human history.

"This was the golden era in the early 1960s, when the ancient dream of leaving Earth and reaching for the stars finally became reality. They also gave us our first real glimpse of our home planet, offering that unique perspective.

"The frustration was that much of the imagery remained unseen or poorly reproduced. I wanted to change that; to restore it."

Andy spent around seven years across the two projects and was able to have many of the astronauts contribute.

He said the family of Ed White, one of the astronauts who died on Apollo 1, was "amazed" by the imagery.

Andy said, "I’ve been lucky to have many of the astronauts themselves contribute, ensuring that what I’ve processed closely represents reality.

"That’s vital for authenticity, given the historical significance of the photographs, but also to allow us all to imagine making the journey ourselves.

"Ed White’s family were amazed by the images of him and thrilled he’s on the cover.

"Jim Lovell, who sadly passed away last week, said the book brought back many memories and he wanted to share with the world the awe he experienced, and to remind us all of the beauty of our home planet."

Andy's book, Gemini and Mercury Remastered, will be published in the UK on August 28, 2025, and in the U.S. on September 2, 2025.