These Beautiful Artsy NASA Photos Were Buried in the Archives

NACA High-Speed Flight Station test pilot Joseph Walker in 1955 transforms to "Cowboy Joe" atop his steed—in this case the Bell Aircraft X-1A. NASA

Browsing through NASA photo archives, one may not really expect anything surprising. You know, guys in tinfoil suits, flag on the Moon, a shuttle taking off—that kind of thing. Imagine my delight when I stumbled upon quite a few examples of impressive photography work.

The Space Shuttle Challenger, atop a mobile launch platform, slowly moves through the Florida fog to Launch Pad 39A in preparation for its first liftoff on the STS-6 mission. The fully assembled Shuttle, weighting 12,000 pounds less than predecessor Columbia, completed the trip to the pad in just over six hours on Nov. 30, 1982. NASA

Apollo 6 and its gantry leaving the vehicle assembly building (VAB) on transporter heading to the launch site on pad 39A at KSC on Feb. 6, 1968. NASA