575 a
John Young, Ken Mattingly or Charles Duke

View of the Earth before the Transposition and Docking maneuver with the LM

Apollo 16, April 16-27, 1972

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 AS16-118-18872” (NASA MSC) in red in top margin, with three filing holes in top margin

575 b
John Young or Charles Duke

The Earth and debris from the spacecraft in the black sky of space

Apollo 16, April 16-27, 1972, 003:06:31 GET

Vintage chromogenic print on resin coated Kodak paper, 20.3 x 25.4cm (8 x 10in), with NASA HQ caption and “A Kodak Paper” watermarks on the verso [NASA AS16-118-18873]

575 c
NASA / Unidentified Photographer

Mission Control monitoring the spacecraft following docking between the Command Module
and the Lunar Module en route to the Moon

Apollo 16, April 16-27, 1972, 003:27:17 GET

Vintage gelatin silver print on fiber-based paper, 20.3 x 25.4cm (8 x 10in), with NASA HQ caption on the verso

575 d
John Young, Ken Mattingly or Charles Duke

The round Earth after docking with the LM on the way to the Moon

Apollo 16, April 16-27, 1972, 003:27:17 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 AS16-118-18878” (NASA MSC) in red in top margin, with three filing holes in top margin
20.3 x 25.4cm (8 x 10in)

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Lot Essay

575 a
The photograph was taken with the Hasselblad camera equipped with a 80mm lens.

The Transposition and Docking maneuver, to link up with the LM, was performed as Apollo 16 was on its way to the Moon travelling at over 10 km per second (22,000 miles per hour).

575 b
This superb photograph was taken with the 80mm lens from a distance of about 4,000 nautical miles during the transposition maneuver between the CM Casper and the SIVB third stage housing the LM.
It shows numerous small particles from the explosive separation of the SIVB petals (the Saturn LM Adapter or SLA panels) to expose the LM.
Most of North America is visible.

003:05:01 Mattingly: 1, 2, 3, release. It’s off. Oh, boy. We’re holding attitude pretty good. [...]
003:05:33 Mattingly: Man, look at all the junk out there. [...]
003:05:52 Mattingly: Okay, let’s look for that booster. That’s the guy I don’t want to hit. Watch my - watch my hand controller, John.
003:06:00 Public Affairs Officer (Mission Control): [...] Apollo 16 presently at a distance of 4,017 nautical miles [7,439 km].
003:06:05 Young: There’s a door (SLA panel) out there by the Earth. [...]
003:06:13 Young: There he is (the SIVB booster). He’s right out there. [...]
003:06:17 Young: You’re well clear, and you’re about 60 feet out. [...]
003:06:24 Mattingly: Okay. Man, did you ever see so much junk?
003:06:30 Young: No.
003:06:31 Mattingly: Oh, look at that. It’s like a Picture.

575 c
This picture inside in the Mission Operations Control Room (MOCR) in the Mission Control Center (MCC) was taken during television coverage transmitted from the Apollo 16 spacecraft on its way to the moon.

The TV monitor in the background shows how the Apollo 16 astronauts viewed Earth from 7,500 nautical miles away.

575 d
This great photograph showing two thirds of the fully illuminated Planet Earth was taken with the 80mm lens from about 7,500 nautical miles away. The entire North American continent is visible.

003:25:26 Duke: Houston, before we turn the TV off, we gon - we want to give you a picture of the Earth. [...]
003:27:00 Public Affairs Officer (Mission Control): That view of Earth from a distance of 7,500 nautical miles [13,890 km].
003:26:40 Fullerton (Mission Control): Very nice picture, Charlie. We can see Southwestern United States, Lower California. Very nice.
003:26:50 Duke: Good. Ken’s doing all that good work for you. It’s out his window.
003:27:10 Mattingly: Gordon, is that color okay for you?
003:27:13 Fullerton: Very nice, Ken. Beautiful color.
003:27:17 Mattingly: I bet it’s good, but you just can’t believe how beautiful it is. See the reds in the desert down there and the Southern United States and northern part of Mexico. And from here, you see the Great Lakes and the State of Florida out there. And it’s just absolutely something. We’re going to go back to work, but thought you’d enjoy that.
003:27:37 Fullerton: Thank you for the picture. It’s the next best thing to being up there.