If you love space, odds are you’ve admired the work of Bill Ingalls. He has been NASA’s senior contract photographer for 30 years, a job that has taken him across the world—but not yet beyond it—to cover major moments in space exploration.

From posh events at the White House to spacecraft landings in the frigid Kazakh steppe, his assignments have resulted in some of the agency’s most iconic images. He is one of only two photographers ever to receive the prestigious National Space Club press award. Yet, he remains genuinely humble.

“Thirty years should make for a huge body of work,” he says. “But truly, I only feel like my work in the last five to 10 years is work I