268 a
Eugene Cernan or Thomas Stafford

The lunar nearside horizon seen from the LM Snoopy descending to the lunar surface

Apollo 10, May 18-26, 1969, orbit 13

Two unreleased photographs, vintage gelatin silver prints on fiber-based paper, each 20.3 x 25.4cm (8 x 10in), numbered “NASA AS10-29-4229, AS10-29-4244” (NASA MSC) in black in top margin

268 b
Eugene Cernan or Thomas Stafford

Earthrise seen from the LM descending to the lunar surface

Apollo 10, May 18-26, 1969, orbit 13

Unreleased photograph, vintage gelatin silver print on fiber-based paper, 20.3 x 25.4cm (8 x 10in) [NASA AS10-29-4231]
20.3 x 25.4cm (8 x 10in)

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Lot Essay

268 a
These photographs were taken with the 80mm lens looking west (forward) from the LM flying over the west border of Smyths’ Sea (latitude / longitude: 1.5° S / 80° E) and the west boarder of the Foaming Sea (latitude / longitude: 3° N / 64° E).

The very low altitude of the spacecraft over the Moon is clearly noticeable.

“The flight of Apollo 10 permitted man to observe directly features on the lunar surface from an altitude of 50 000 ft, an altitude within the range of high performance aircraft on Earth,” observed the Apollo 10 crew (NASA SP-232, p. 1).

From the mission transcript as the spacecraft was rounding the lunar nearside on orbit 13:
100:26:54 Cernan (Snoopy): We is Go, and we is down among them, Charlie (Duke at Mission Control). [..]
100:29:57 Stafford (Snoopy): OK. Good. We’ll be picking up our landing radar test and taking pictures here and it is a fantastic sight. You do have different shades of browns and grays here.
[...]
100:35:30 Cernan (Snoopy): Charlie, we’re now about where the horizon is - almost, you know, level - at times seems a little bit high... [...]
100:36:07 Stafford (Snoopy): Also, Charlie, it looks like we’re getting so close all you have to do is put your tail hook down and we’re there. (Laughter)

268 b
Coming around the Moon at low altitude, Stafford and Cernan witnessed an extraordinary sight: the Earth rising over the western edge of Smyth’s Sea. The malfunctioning of the Hasselblad with the color film magazine prevented them to get their Blue Planet in color but they still captured this fantastic photograph with the Hasselblad equipped with the 80mm lens and B&W magazine 29/P. The 35-km Crater Schubert B (also known as Back Crater) located on the western edge of Smyth’s sea is in the foreground. Latitude / longitude: 1° S / 78° E.

100:25:30 Cernan (Snoopy): Look at that - look at the Earth! Look at the Earth!
100:25:33 Stafford (Snoopy): Oh gee. Look at the Earth, John. Get it, get it.
100:25:42 Stafford (Snoopy): Oh my God, I can’t believe it! It’s just...
100:25:47 Cernan (Snoopy): That’s beautiful.
100:25:48 Stafford (Snoopy): And that color film didn’t work! That makes me so mad!
100:25:52 Cernan (Snoopy): John, we just had Earthrise. Fantastic. Golly, John! Tom, get that if you can.
100:25:58 Stafford (Snoopy): I don’t have any color film on this son of a bitch. [...]
100:27:46 Cernan (Snoopy): Oh. Charlie (Duke at Mission Control). We just saw Earthrise and it’s got to be magnificent.