Project Apollo Archive
Apollo 17 Lunar Module Pilot Harrison P. Schmitt enjoys a shave. The photo is just one of thousands collected by the Project Apollo Archive. NASA

Interest in space exploration is on the rise in 2015 following several amazing discoveries. The New Horzions probe brought Pluto into focus, there's flowing water on Mars and "The Martian" just topped the weekend box office, which is why the Project Apollo Archive is perfect for this moment. The online gallery, created by Kipp Teague, delivers thousands of photos detailing just what it was like to be a part of the lunar missions.

Teague grew up during the space race, when the U.S. and the Soviet Union battled for the lead in space exploration. The Apollo program was launched with the goal of landing the first person on the moon by the end of the 1960s. That extraordinary feat was accomplished with Apollo 11 on July 20, 1969. Teague created the Project Apollo Archive in 1999, but the Flickr gallery collecting photos from Apollo 7 to Apollo 17 is the latest effort to present these photos. The Project Apollo Archive Flickr gallery is a "re-presentation of the public domain NASA-provided Apollo mission imagery as it was originally provided in its raw, high-resolution and unprocessed form by the Johnson Space Center on DVD-R and including from the center's Gateway to Astronaut Photography of Earth website," Teague writes.

Apollo 11 Flag
The flag left behind on the moon from the Apollo 11 mission in 1969. NASA

Each album provides a candid look at the lives of the Apollo astronauts during the missions. There are even a few space selfies, which put all terrestrial photos to shame. A small sample of the Project Apollo Archive can be viewed below.

Apollo 9 EVA
Lunar Module pilot Russell Schweickart performed a 37.5-minute extravehicular activity (EVA), i.e. space walk, as part of the Apollo 9 mission. NASA
Apollo 10
The Apollo 10 Command and Service Modules seen after separation. The last mission before the landing tested every aspect of a lunar landing. NASA
Apollo 7
Apollo 7 astronaut Walter Cunningham. NASA
Apollo 8
Earth as seen from the lunar orbit. Apollo 8 spent Christmas above the moon. NASA
Apollo 11 First Men On Moon
The Apollo 11 plaque stating: "Here men from the planet Earth first set foot upon the moon July 1969 A.D. We came in peace for all mankind." NASA