Wikipedia:Picture of the day/On the main pages

This page shows the pictures of the day for yesterday, today, and tomorrow. If multiple pictures are featured as a random selection, all of the options are shown here. If the dates shown below are not current, please null edit the page.

Yesterday (2024-07-26)

Apollo 15 (July 26 – August 7, 1971) was the fourth crewed mission to land on the Moon. It was the first of three J missions, with a longer stay on the Moon, a greater focus on science, and the use of the first Lunar Roving Vehicle (LRV). David Scott and James Irwin landed near Hadley Rille and spent 18 and a half hours on extravehicular activity (EVA), collecting 170 pounds (77 kg) of surface material. During the return trip, Alfred Worden performed the first spacewalk in deep space. The mission included the collection of the Genesis Rock, thought to be part of the Moon's early crust, and Scott used a hammer and a feather to demonstrate Galileo's theory that, absent air resistance, objects fall at the same rate regardless of mass. The mission was later marred when it was found that the crew had carried unauthorized postal covers to the lunar surface, some of which were sold by a West German stamp dealer. The crew was reprimanded for poor judgment, and none flew in space again. This photograph, taken by Scott during an EVA on August 2, shows Irwin giving a military salute beside the U.S. flag. The Lunar Module Falcon is in the center, with the LRV on the right.

Photograph credit: David Scott; restored by Bammesk and Basile Morin

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Today (2024-07-27)

Nathan Francis Mossell (July 27, 1856 – October 27, 1946) was an American physician. Born in Hamilton, Ontario, Mossell was the fourth of six children and both his parents were descended from freed slaves. During the American Civil War, the family moved back to the United States, settling in Lockport, New York, where Mossell's father went into business. Mossell earned a degree from Lincoln University, a historically black college in Pennsylvania, followed by the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, where he graduated in 1882. He was active in the NAACP and also helped found the Douglass Hospital in West Philadelphia in 1895, which he led as chief of staff and medical director until he retired in 1933. His wife was the activist and teacher Gertrude Bustill Mossell. This portrait of Mossell was taken around 1882.

Photograph credit: H. D. Carns & Co.; restored by Adam Cuerden

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Tomorrow (2024-07-28)

Bultfonteinite is a pink, light-brown or colorless mineral with the chemical formula Ca₂SiO₂(OH,F)₄. It was first discovered in 1903 or 1904 in the Bultfontein mine in Kimberley, South Africa, with other finds in the same country in the following years. It has since been found across the world including in Australia, Botswana, Japan, Russia and the United States. The mineral occurs as radiating prismatic acicular crystals and radial spherules up to 2 centimetres (0.79 inches). This specimen of bultfonteinite, measuring 5.0 cm × 3.0 cm × 3.0 cm (2.0 in × 1.2 in × 1.2 in), was extracted from Shijiangshan Mine near Chifeng in Inner Mongolia, China.

Photograph credit: Ivar Leidus

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