Neatly coinciding with the summer release of...

Neatly coinciding with the summer release of the blockbuster film “Apollo 13,” two exhibits at Gallery at 777 deliver the real stuff.

“25 Years of Space Photography” and “Americans in Space” document efforts in space exploration with breathtaking images that remind us all why space is considered the greatest--and the last--frontier. The arresting beauty of these photographs, taken by unmanned satellites and astronauts, ranges from geometrically stark to Rorschach-test ethereal.

Among the shots are Jupiter and Saturn up close, the ancient, fissured plateaus of northern Peru shot from well beyond the Earth’s atmosphere, and one of the first spacewalks outside the spacecraft Gemini 9 in 1966. While “25 Years” paints space portraits as sweeping as the heavens themselves, “Americans” zeros in on people--the astronauts--as they make their way into vast, unfamiliar territory.

The works are compiled from NASA’s archives, beginning with maiden space flights in the early 1960s to recent space shuttle flights. The exhibit is being provided by the California Museum of Science and Industry, in cooperation with Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

In conjunction with these exhibits, models of spacecraft, technical illustrations and photographs featuring pivotal moments in space exploration are on display in the 777 Tower lobby.

“25 Years of Space Photography,” through July 28. “Americans in Space,” Aug . 7-Sept. 1. At Gallery at 777, 777 S. Figueroa St., lobby, (213) 955-5977. Open Mondays through Fridays, 11 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. and by appointment.