499 a
NASA / Unidentified Photographer

Official portraits of the crew of the Apollo 15 lunar landing mission

Apollo 15, March-July 1971

Two vintage chromogenic prints on resin coated Kodak paper, each 20.3 x 25.4cm (8 x 10in) and with “A Kodak Paper” watermarks on the versos, the second numbered “NASA G-71-4618” (NASA Goddard) in black in bottom margin

499 b
NASA / Unidentified Photographer

David Scott and James Irwin driving the new Lunar Rover during EVA training

Apollo 15, May 1971

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 S-71-37219” in red in top margin

499 c
NASA / Unidentified Photographer

The Apollo 15 prime crewmembers during training

Apollo 15, April-May 1971

Three vintage gelatin silver prints on fiber-based paper, each 20.3 x 25.4cm (8 x 10in) and with NASA KSC, MSC and HQ captions on the versos

499 d
NASA / Unidentified Photographer

Apollo 15 backup crewmembers Harrison Schmitt and Richard Gordon during EVA training

Apollo 15, May-July 1971

Two vintage gelatin silver prints on fiber-based paper, each 20.3 x 25.4cm (8 x 10in) and with NASA KSC and HQ captions on the versos

499 e
NASA / Unidentified Photographer

The crew during recovery and water egress training in the Gulf of Mexico

Apollo 15, May 1971

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 S-71-34286” in red in top margin

499 f
NASA / Unidentified Photographer

The astronauts checking their EVA equipment

Apollo 15, June 1971

Three vintage chromogenic prints on resin coated Kodak paper, each 20.3 x 25.4cm (8 x 10in) and with NASA KSC captions as well as “A Kodak Paper” watermarks on the versos

499 g
NASA / Unidentified Photographer

The astronauts checking their EVA equipment

Apollo 15, June 1971

Two vintage chromogenic prints on resin coated Kodak paper, each 20.3 x 25.4cm (8 x 10in) and with NASA KSC captions as well as “A Kodak Paper” watermarks on the versos
20.3 x 25.4cm (8 x 10in)

499 e
Jacobs, p.98.

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Lot Essay

499 a
David R. Scott, Commander, Alfred M. Worden, Command Module Pilot and James B. Irwin, Lunar Module Pilot, pose with the mission’s emblem (first photograph) and in front of a replica of the LM with the Lunar Rover (second photograph) which the astronauts would use for the first time on Apollo 15.

The final three Apollo missions were scientific expeditions, outfitted with extra supplies which allowed a pair of astronauts to spend three days on the Moon. With improved spacesuits that offered greater mobility, they took moonwalks lasting up to seven hours, a full working day of exploration. Best of all, these teams brought along their own transportation: a battery-powered Lunar Rover that allowed them to travel across the landscape, even onto the sides of mountains.

“Our destiny, at that time, was to go to the Moon. In fact, probably one of the clearest definitions of an objective or a destiny that mankind has ever experienced has been ‘Man, Moon, 1970’. How could it be any clearer than that?”
David Scott (Chaikin, Voices, p. 183)

499 b
“The two moon-exploring prime crewmembers train with the Lunar Roving Vehicle (LRV) at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC). Wearing their complete Extravehicular Mobility Units (EMU), are David Scott, at right, and James Irwin, at left. Brightly colored protective thermal foil material is used on the Ground Commanded Color Television Assembly (GCTA), above, and the Lunar Communications Relay Unit (LCRU), below” (NASA caption).

499 c
Command Module Pilot (CMP) Alfred Worden during a simulated altitude chamber test of the Command Module spacecraft in the Manned Spacecraft Operations building (first photograph); Commander (CDR) David Scott and Lunar Module Pilot (LMP) James Irwin during a timeline study of the Apollo 15 lunar surface extravehicular activity at the Kennedy Space Center (second and third photographs).

499 d
Apollo 15 backup astronauts Harrison Schmitt and Richard Gordon practice surface activity at a simulated landing site at the Kennedy Space Center.

“The rockpile was pretty exhausting... A combination of the Florida heat, the weight of the backpack... On the Moon, we didn’t have the weight, but we had the pressure of this being the real thing and not a simulation, and then we had a stiff suit to contend with. We were always fighting the suit,” said James Irwin (Chaikin, Voices, p.10)

499 e
The crewmen, aboard the NASA Motor Vessel Retriever (MVR), talk with U.S. Navy Lieutenant Fred W. Schmidt, the assignated lead Underwater Demolition Team (UDT) swimmer for recovery operations of the mission.

“One of the other beauties of the Apollo program was the involvement of the people, which you can only appreciate by having seen it. [...] The Apollo program was such a nice environment in which people had personal dedication. And that’s one reason it worked. It wasn’t just 400,000 people doing their eight-to-five jobs, it was 400,000 people involved in a manned expedition,” said David Scott (Chaikin, Voices, p. 187).

499 f
David Scott, James Irwin and Alfred Worden check their Extravehicular Mobility Unit including the Hasselblad lunar surface camera (second image) in a fit and function check at the Flight Crew Training Building at the Kennedy Space Center.

499 g
“That’s always in the back of your head, you never really think you’re quite ready... You just train the best you can, pile it in. And one day you say, We’re gonna go... I’m as ready as I’ll ever be.”
Alfred Worden (Chaikin, Voices, p. 9)