417 a
Pete Conrad

The astronaut’s shadow in front of a large mound on the Ocean of Storms

Apollo 12, November 14-24, 1969, EVA 1, 116:55:31 GET

Unreleased photograph (originally shot on color film), vintage USGS gelatin silver “proof” print on fiber-based paper, 20.3 x 25.4cm (8 x 10in), numbered “AS12-46-6793” in top margin

417 b
Pete Conrad

The large mound on the Ocean of Storms

Apollo 12, November 14-24, 1969, EVA 1, 116:55:53 GET

Vintage chromogenic print on fiber-based Kodak paper, 20.3 x 25.4cm (8 x 10in), with “A Kodak Paper” watermarks on the verso, numbered “NASA AS12- 46-6795” in red in top margin (NASA MSC)

417 c
Pete Conrad

Alan Bean transporting scientific equipment on the sunny Ocean of Storms

Apollo 12, November 14-24, 1969, EVA 1, 116:57:52 GET

Vintage chromogenic print on fiber-based Kodak paper, 20.3 x 25.4cm (8 x 10in), with NASA MSC caption and “A Kodak Paper” watermarks on the verso, numbered “NASA AS12-46-6806” in red in top margin

A frame from the panoramic sequence taken at the lunar science station.
20.3 x 25.4cm (8 x 10in)

417 c
Schick and Van Haaften p. 44; Thomas pp. 256-257; Arnold, plate 21.

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Lot Essay

417 a
When Conrad went out to scout out a deployment area for the lunar-science station (or ALSEP site), he noticed a couple of meter-sized, conical mounds as he waited for Bean and was eager to take a look. This mound was the larger of two mounds located near the ALSEP deployment site.

“Pete and I had never seen these irregular cone shaped mounds in all our geological training on Earth. We did not think they were volcanic vents, but we did not know what to think. I now believe the scientists are right, they were material ejected from a larger impact crater nearby billions of years ago, that had been modified by small meteor impact debris in the billions of years since” said Alan Bean (Constantine, p.35).

116:54:20 Conrad: Okay. I’m looking for...I’m dying to find out what this mound is over here anyhow, Al. (Pause) We got a very peculiar mound sticking up out of the ground, Houston. I want to go look at it. As a matter of fact, I think I’ll go take a picture of it.

417 b
“This mound on the lunar surface was photographed looking towards the southwest. This type of feature and its formation have generated considerable interest among lunar geologists” (NASA SP-235, p.21).

116:55:31 Conrad: It’s the world’s most peculiar...I got to photograph this thing. I can’t imagine what it is. The mound’s sticking up; and I can’t imagine how it got there or what would make it. (Pause)
116:55:46 Bean: (Probably commenting on Pete’s running) Boy, you can cover the ground on this lightweight...at one sixth g. Really move.
116:55:53 Conrad: I got to get them a stereo of this thing. It’s really fantastic! Oops.

417 c
Kicking up lunar dust with each step, Bean strides across the sunny Moon with a package of instruments to be set up. He is using a “barbell” carry to take the Package to its deployment site, the lunar-science station (also called ALSEP site) which was deployed at a distance of about 500 feet northwest from the LM (visible with the American flag and the S-band antenna directly behind Alan Bean).
Sun glare glint is visible at the upper left portion of the photograph. Unfiltered by any atmosphere, the Sun as seen from the lunar surface is more brilliant than on Earth. Sunlight played luminous tricks with the two astronauts; the photograph shows unpredicted and thus far unexplained formations cropping up here and there on the lunar surface.

“The rays of light and patches of color lens aberrations caused by the direct and blinding sunlight create a strange, unreal atmosphere” (Arnold, plate 21).