669 a
Harrison Schmitt

Gatsby Crater seen during the traverse from station 9 to the LM

Apollo 17, December 7-19, 1972, EVA 3, 168:50:15 GET

Unreleased photograph, vintage gelatin silver print on fiber-based paper, 20.3 x 21.9cm, with the top and right margins trimmed to image, numbered “NASA AS17-143-21864” (NASA MSC) in black in top margin

669 b
Harrison Schmitt

Wide-angle view of the Taurus-Littrow landing site seen from the Lunar Rover after the last traverse on the lunar surface

Apollo 17, December 7-19, 1972, EVA 3, 169:14:33 GET

Unreleased photograph, vintage gelatin silver print on fiber-based paper, 20.3 x 25.4cm (8 x 10in), numbered “NASA AS17-143-21926” (NASA MSC) in black in top margin

669 c
Eugene Cernan

The LM Challenger and the American flag seen from the Lunar Rover after the last traverse on the lunar surface

Apollo 17, December 7-19, 1972, EVA 3, 169:16:22 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 AS17-134-20459” (NASA MSC) in red in top margin
20.3 x 25.4cm (8 x 10in)

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Lot Essay

669 a
From his passenger seat, Schmitt took a photograph of Gatsby Crater as the Rover approached its east rim on the way back to the LM at the end of the last traverse on the lunar surface.
The South Massif (left), West and Old Family Mountain are in the background.
The TV camera mounted at the front of the Rover is in the foreground.

168:49:21 Schmitt: We going to Sherlock (Station 10) at all, Bob?
168:49:26 Parker (Mission Control): No, we’re going straight home...
168:49:27 Schmitt: (To Gene) That must be Gatsby (Crater) over there.
168:49:27 Parker: ... you can follow the (garbled, but means the Nav system) home. (Pause) And a reminder, Jack. We can get lots of photos. We’ve got lots of film left right now. [...]
168:50:09 Cernan: That’s Gatsby there, I guess, huh?
168:50:10 Schmitt: Yeah.
168:50:12 Cernan: It’s not unlike Van Serg, though.
168:50:15 Schmitt: Hey, you know that looks like the mantling...Hopefully, we can get a...Watch your rock. There you go. (Hopefully), we can get a shot looking back to the northwest...
168:50:32 Cernan: Yeah, I’ll get that when I...
168:50:33 Schmitt: ...into Gatsby, because it looks like the mantle streams over the side from the southwest. Can you swing to your right and get up a little closer to the rim, there?

669 b
Rover tracks and a dark rock collected later by Schmitt are in the foreground.
The dark rock was an 8.1 kg fine-grained basalt, the largest rock Apollo 17 brought back to Earth.
The lunar-science station (ALSEP site) is beyond the LM to the right.
The South Massif (left) and West Family Mountain (right) are in the background; the Rover TV camera is in the foreground.

669 c
Cernan took the photograph at the end of the last Rover traverse on the lunar surface as Schmitt had just gone off the rover to collect the biggest rock of the mission.
Geophone Rock and the lunar science station are beyond the LM to the left. The high-gain antenna of the Rover is in the foreground. West and Old Family Mountain forms the skyline in the background.

During the record 22 hours spent outside on the lunar surface, Eugene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt drove the Lunar Rover 22.5 miles around the Taurus-Littrow area of the Sea of Serenity.

169:16:22 Schmitt: Gene, you can go ahead. I’ll walk back.