634 a
A frame from a panoramic sequence taken from the LM window. The LM landed within 200m
of the preferred landing point in a deep narrow valley called Taurus-Littrow. Its shadow is in the
foreground, the base of the South Massif (left) and West Family Mountain (center) are in the background. West Family Mountain is about 20 km from the LM. A large rock (named Geophone Rock by the crew) is visible in the distance (190 m away).
“When Challenger alights, our view embraces a pristine moonscape of craters, rocks, and sunny
slopes agleam like virgin snow. This is just after the dawn of a lunar daytime that will last for 13
more Earth days, a dawn when shadows etch the smallest features in high relief, prime time for the lunar explorer,” remembered Schmitt (National Geographic, September 1973, p. 305).
From the mission transcript after landing:
Schmitt: Hey, Gordy (Fullerton at Mission Control), right at 12 o’clock, also, is a boulder that’s at least 3 meters (high) and maybe 5, and I wouldn’t be a bit surprised if you can find it (in the overhead photography). It’s on a line between us and the intersection of the South Massif and the (West) Family Mountain horizon. Just slightly left of that line or south of that line. And that boulder ought to show up on your best photography.
Fullerton (Mission Control): Okay, Jack. We’ll take a look. [...]
Schmitt: And that boulder’s at least 200 meters away.
634 b
A frame of the 4 O’clock LM (relative position to the LM hatch, northeast of the LM) panoramic
sequence.
Old Family Mountain (left, 11 km from the LM) and the North Massif (right) form the skyline of this photograph captured at the beginning of the first lunar excursion.
117:45:40 Schmitt: Okay. I got my camera.
117:45:42 Cernan: All the breakers closed except Nav.
117:45:47 Schmitt: The old 4 o’clock pan!
634 c
The crew had just extracted and activated the Lunar Rover and Gene Cernan can be seen giving it a test drive.
“This was successful to the relief of the crew, as it was planned that Apollo 17 would be making longer traverses than any of the previous Apollo missions” (Constantine, p. 120).
117:47:50 Cernan: Okay. I can’t see the rear ones, but I know the front ones turn. And it does move. Hallelujah. Hallelujah, Houston! Challenger’s baby is on the roll.
634 d
“Shortly after deployment, Cernan drove the LRV through a series of maneuvers to check out the performance of the vehicle. The LRV would then loaded with tools, experiment hardware, a TV camera, and antennas. South Massif, the crest of which is 2,500 meters above the valley floor, forms the skyline 5 kilometers behind the LM. The bands of dark gray are LRV tracks; bootprints in the lunar surface are visible near the right margin of the photograph” (NASA SP-330, p. 4.13).
Schmitt also tried to frame the Earth in this beautiful picture of the arrival of the crew at Taurus-Littrow; but it was too high in the lunar sky over the South Massif to fit in the image.
117:49:00 Schmitt: Let me move back. Okay?
117:49:06 Cernan: How’s the timeline, Bob?
117:49:11 Parker (Mission Control): As far as I can tell, you guys are right on within a minute or two.
117:49:17 Schmitt: The Earth’s just a little high for me, Geno.
117:49:19 Cernan: Okay.
117:49:21 Schmitt: I’m not sure I can get it without getting way away.
117:49:23 Cernan: Okay. Don’t worry.
117:49:26 Schmitt: Somebody said it (Earth) was going to be just behind the South Massif. (Laughs)
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