639 a
Taken by the RCA TV Camera mounted on the Lunar Rover

Harrison Schmitt storing his camera at the rover before driving to station 1

Apollo 17, December 7-19, 1972, EVA 1, 121:28:22 GET

Unpublished photograph, vintage gelatin silver print on fiber-based paper, 20.3 x 25.4cm (8 x 10in), stamped “RCA Astro-Electronics 72-12-521” on the verso (NASA / RCA)

639 b
Taken by the RCA TV Camera mounted on the Lunar Rover

Cernan and Schmitt collecting lunar samples near Steno Crater, the first geology stop in the Taurus-Littrow Valley

Apollo 17, December 7-19, 1972, EVA 1, 122:11:13 GET

Unpublished photograph, vintage gelatin silver print on fiber-based paper, 20.3 x 25.4cm (8 x 10in), stamped “RCA Astro-Electronics 72-12-514” on the verso (NASA / RCA)

639 c
Eugene Cernan

Harrison Schmitt holding the lunar rake, station 1

Apollo 17, December 7-19, 1972, EVA 1, 122:27:08 GET

Vintage chromogenic print on resin coated Kodak paper, 20.3 x 25.4cm (8 x 10in), with NASA Goddard caption numbered “AS17-134-20425” and “A Kodak Paper” watermarks on the verso

639 d
Eugene Cernan

The rim of Steno Crater with the East Massif in the background, station 1

Apollo 17, December 7-19, 1972, EVA 1, 122:42:15 GET

Unreleased photograph, 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 AS17-134-20416” (NASA MSC) in red in top margin, with three filing holes in top margin

639 e
Eugene Cernan

Footprints, lunar rocks and the gnomon at station 1

Apollo 17, December 7-19, 1972, EVA 1, 122:30:27 GET

Unreleased photograph, 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 AS17-134-20432” (NASA MSC) in red in top margin

639 f
Harrison Schmitt

The rising Sun illuminating the Lunar Rover at station 1

Apollo 17, December 7-19, 1972, EVA 1, 122:32:24 GET

Unreleased photograph, vintage gelatin silver print on fiber-based paper, 20.3 x 25.4cm (8 x 10in), numbered “NASA AS17-136-20761” (NASA MSC) in black in top margin, with three filing holes in top margin
20.3 x 25.4cm (8 x 10in)

639 c
Reynolds, p. 204.

This lot will be removed to Christie’s Park Royal. Christie’s will inform you if the lot has been sent offsite. Our removal and storage of the lot is subject to the terms and conditions of storage which can be found at Christies.com/storage and our fees for storage are set out in the table below - these will apply whether the lot remains with Christie’s or is removed elsewhere. Please call Christie’s Client Service 24 hours in advance to book a collection time at Christie’s Park Royal. All collections from Christie’s Park Royal will be by pre-booked appointment only. Tel: +44 (0)20 7839 9060 Email: cscollectionsuk@christies.com. If the lot remains at Christie’s it will be available for collection on any working day 9.00 am to 5.00 pm. Lots are not available for collection at weekends.
Specified lots are being stored at Crozier Park Royal (details below) or will be removed from Christie’s, 8 King Street, London, SW1Y 6QT by 5.00pm on the day of the sale. Christie’s will inform you if the lot has been sent offsite. If the lot has been transferred to Crozier Park Royal, it will be available for collection from 12.00pm on the second business day following the sale. Please call Christie’s Client Service 24 hours in advance to book a collection time at Crozier Park Royal. All collections from Crozier Park Royal will be by pre-booked appointment only. Tel: +44 (0)20 7839 9060 Email: cscollectionsuk@christies.com. If the lot remains at Christie’s, 8 King Street, it will be available for collection on any working day (not weekends) from 9.00am to 5.00pm
Please note this lot is the property of a consumer. See H1 of the Conditions of Sale.

Conditions of Sale
FAQs
This lot is offered by Christie Manson & Woods Ltd

Brought to you by

Lot Essay

639 a
Schmitt is removing his camera from the bracket on his chest and stowing it under his seat.

121:28:03 Cernan: (Consulting his checklist CDR-24) Okay, where are we? You got your camera, obviously. This is my camera. I’ll get the bag dispenser on it. (Pause) It’s not a bad day’s start. Bob, is the ALSEP working good?
121:28:16 Parker (Mission Control): The last we heard, it was working great, guys. We’ll check again, though.
121:28:22 Cernan: Okay. (Reading) You got your camera. My camera is in the floor pan. Cap dispenser (from) SCB-1 to Gate. Let me get that.

639 b
Cernan is standing a little downhill just inside the lip of a crater with hammer and scoop in his hands, hitting the boulder and trying to collect fragments while Schmitt holds a sample bag in hand.

122:11:20 Schmitt: Go ahead. (Pause) Try hitting (the edge)...There you go. Can you use the other end against the right side of the rock?
122:11:30 Cernan: I’m (garbled).
122:11:32 Schmitt: Oh.
122:11:34 Cernan: It’s coming. (Pause)
122:11:42 Schmitt: That’s all right.
122:11:44 Cernan: I’ll get that one, wait a minute.
122:11:47 Schmitt: Be careful down in there.
122:11:49 Cernan: The whole thing is going to fracture off here, in a minute. Just want to...

639 c
A frame from a panoramic sequence taken at station 1 near Steno Crater.
Schmitt has the Hasselblad camera mounted on his chest.
He is “shaking soil out of the rake to collect a sample of rocks ranging from 1 to 4 centimeters in diameter after making a swath through the surface soil” (ALSJ caption for AS17-134-20425). West and Old Family Mountain and the left side of the North Massif are in the background.

122:27:08 Schmitt: And, Bob, I’m really only penetrating about, at the most, 3 centimeters into this area with the rake. I’ve picked up a very good sample of boulders (fragments) but most of them were in that distance of the surface and projecting out of it.
122:27:28 Parker (Mission Control): Okay; I copy that.
122:27:31 Schmitt: You ready, Gene?
122:27:33 Cernan: A couple of more (pictures), Jack. (Pause) Okay, coming at you (with a sample bag). Bob, the pan is complete. I’ll give you a frame count shortly.

639 d
A frame from a panoramic sequence taken at station 1 near Steno Crater. The rim of Steno is at the near right horizon but the crater itself is not visible. Rover tracks are in the foreground.

“Station 1 was located about 150 meters from the northwest rim of Steno Crater, in the middle of the Taurus-Littrow Valley. This station was originally planned for Emory Crater, which is southeast of the actual stop and about 2.5 kilometers from the LM.
However, because of the extra time required for ALSEP experiments, the traverse was shortened to go only as far as Steno Crater” (https://www.lpi.usra.edu/lunar/missions/apollo/apollo_17/surface_opp/).

639 e
“When Steno Crater formed, it would have ejected material from below the surface and deposited it in the surrounding region. The goal of this stop was to collect samples of this subsurface material” (http://www.lpi.usra.edu/lunar/missions/apollo/apollo_17/surface_opp/).

A view of the rake site after Cernan collected samples. The rake is partially visible at the left of
the picture. Before taking the photograph, Cernan noticed that he had dust on his Hasselblad camera and made a joke about blowing it off (which is of course not a very useful thing to try when wearing a helmet).

122:30:00 Cernan: Well, I just can’t even read my camera anymore. I’ve got to learn how to control the dust. Okay, that’s in (Jack’s SCB).
122:30:06 Schmitt: Okay; you get the “after”?
122:30:07 Cernan: I tried to blow the dust off my camera!

639 f
A frame from a panoramic sequence taken at Steno Crater’s station 1. The Sculptured Hills are in the background.

“Even low in the sky, the Sun was a force to be reckoned with, producing a surface temperature of 150°F during the 3-day ‘morning’ of the 14-day lunar day” (Reynolds, p. 205).

122:30:19 Parker (Mission Control): We’d like for you to get your second pan, Jack, and then we’ll press on.
122:30:27 Schmitt: Okay. (Pause)
122:30:33 Schmitt: I’ll get it over here (west of the Rover) where our two sample sites are in view. [...]
122:32:43 Parker: Okay. And, Jack, you got the pan or getting it?
122:32:50 Schmitt: Yes, sir.
122:32:53 Cernan: And, Bob, CDR is on frame count 60 (on the Hasselblad camera). [...]
122:33:08 Schmitt: And the LMP is on nine-five.