Details
609 a
Ken Mattingly

Lunar horizon over the rugged landscape of the farside highlands

Apollo 16, April 16-27, 1972, orbit 18, 107:34:59 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 AS16-118-18956” (NASA MSC) in red in top margin

609 b
Ken Mattingly

Details of the lunar nearside seen from the orbiting Command Module Casper

Apollo 16, April 16-27, 1972, orbit 26, 124:00:37 to 124:05:43 GET

Four unreleased photographs, vintage chromogenic prints on fiber-based Kodak paper, each 20.3 x 25.4cm (8 x 10in) and with “A Kodak Paper” watermarks on the verso, consecutively numbered “NASA AS16-120-9195, AS16-120-19196, AS16-120-19197, AS16-120-19198” (NASA MSC) in red in top margin

609 c
Ken Mattingly

Close-ups of the lunar farside near Crater Mendeleev

Apollo 16, April 16-27, 1972, orbit 27, 125:25:24 to 125:31:04 GET

Four unreleased photographs, vintage chromogenic prints on fiber-based Kodak paper, each 20.3 x 25.4cm (8 x 10in) and with “A Kodak Paper” watermarks on the verso, consecutively numbered “NASA AS16-120-19209, AS16-120-19210, AS16-120-19211, AS16-120-19212” (NASA MSC) in red in top margin

609 d
Ken Mattingly

Lunar horizon over the rugged landscape of the farside highlands

Apollo 16, April 16-27, 1972, orbit 27, 125:33:07 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 AS16-120-19213” (NASA MSC) in red in top margin
20.3 x 25.4cm (8 x 10in)
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Lot Essay

609 a
The farside lunar horizon photographed looking north west (with magazine 118/NN and the 250mm telephoto lens) from an altitude of about 120 km above the surface.
The 33-km Crater Leonov (19.0°N 148.2°E) is visible on the horizon to the right of Center.

From the on-board voice recorder in the CM Casper rounding the farside of the Moon:

107:32:23 Mattingly: Apparently some of these things I’m looking at north of Papaleski there that they’re unnamed on our - our chart, but look like they’re just filled with so much stuff, big blobs of things that couldn’t all be slumps that just fell down from the side, but they’d almost have to run in to form the kind of blobs that they have. There’s one here that - It’s a little to the north. It’s a very strange looking thing.
107:33:30 Mattingly: Man, everywhere you look there’s craters and craters and hills. Hummocks up on the northern horizon. Let’s get one shot of that stuff. Okay. Well, I guess that I’m not coming up on Van Gent. And I guess it’s about time for me to shift to - to an f/8.
107:34:59 Mattingly: Man, there’s more of that stuff. It’s just all over here. What looks like areas have just flown down into these big ditches.

609 b
These orbital moonscapes were photographed (with magazine 120/V and the 250mm telephoto
lens) from an altitude of about 120 km: looking north in the Sea of Fertility (latitude / longitude: 0.3° S / 47.2° E) over the 11-km, 11-km and 7-km Craters Messier, Messier A (both cut off at bottom) and B (cut off at right); looking north over the border between the Sea of Fertility and the Sea of Tranquillity between Craters Secchi and Lubbock R (0.5° S / 42.3° E); looking north over the southern shore of the Sea of Tranquillity with the Crater Censorinus N in the left foreground (0.7° S / 36.9°E); looking south over the 28- km Crater Madler (cut off at bottom left) in the Sea of Nectar (15° S / 30.1° E).

“The Moon is exceptionally bright, almost painful to the eyes. After the first 2 days in lunar orbit, the Command Module pilot’s eyes were fatigued; however after the third day, they seemed to have adjusted enough to make visual observations comfortably,” observed the Apollo 16 crew (NASA SP-315, p. 5.4).

From the mission transcript when these photographs were taken:

124:05:43 Mattingly: I’ll tell you, these Sun angles really can play tricks on you.

609 c
Lunar lands east north east of Mendeleev (latitude / longitude: 7.8° N / 148.9° E); floor of Mendeleev Crater near its eastern rim (6.5° N / 144.9° E), lunar lands north west of Mendeleev (10.7° N / 136.4° E); lunar lands west of Mendeleev (6.5° N / 131.4° E), photographed with magazine 120/V and the 250mm telephoto lens from about 120 km above the surface on revolution 27.

From the on-board voice recorder in the CM Casper rounding the farside of the Moon:

125:30:05 Mattingly: I’d swear the general impression I have of this back side is that it has a much harder surface on it. And I don’t really know why.

609 d
The lunar horizon over the northwest rim of the 75-km Crater Kostinskiy (foreground, 14.7°N 118.8°E) photographed looking northwest with the 250 mm telephoto lens from an altitude of about 120km above the surface.
The 81-km Crater Olcott is visible on the far horizon (cut off at right).

From the on-board voice recorder in the CM Casper rounding the farside of the Moon:

125:32:24 Mattingly: Okay, what have I got in the Flight Plan? AOS (Acquisition of Signal) here at 48. Okay. I can look north from - Let’s see - I need about an f/11 here. Oh, no. Last picture may have been out of focus a bit. Oh, look at that little beauty. Isn’t that pretty?
125:33:07 Mattingly: Okay, those are two pictures, numbers 30 and 31, taken north at about 125
degrees, so that’s - Well, what are those craters’ names?
125:33:33 Mattingly: And I can’t tell what they are. They’re off my map here.

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