Name: The whole Moon [Large Format] from a perspective never before seen, May 1967
Brand: Lunar Orbiter IV
Price: 1200.00 GBP
Availability: SoldOut

Taken by a Kodak camera aboard the Lunar Orbiter IV spacecraft

Lunar Orbiter IV, May 1967

Large-format vintage gelatin silver print on fiber-based paper, 45 x 51.5cm, numbered “IV-186M NASA-LRC” (NASA Langley) in black on the recto lower margin, stamped “Institute of Physics and Geoplanetary Physics University of California Los Angeles. California 90024” on the verso, scratches in the bottom left margin
45 x 51.5cm (18 x 20in)

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
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Lot Essay

Lunar Orbiter was the first robotic spacecraft to take high resolution photographs of the whole Moon from lunar orbit, offering amazing never before seen views of Earth’s satellite, from a perspective different from Earth. Soviet spacecrafts had already sent back whole Moon images, but mostly very crude.

This superb medium resolution photograph of the full crescent Moon was taken (simultaneously with high resolution Lunar Orbiter telephoto frame IV-186H) with the 80mm lens from an altitude of 3005 km and centered (latitude 42.27° S, longitude 81.34° W) on a point near the 55-km Crater Baade, located on the southwestern limb of the Moon as seen from Earth. The enormous Basin impact of the Eastern Sea, difficult to see from an Earthbound perspective, is at the terminator (left center of picture). Images such as this one have revealed it to be one of the most striking large scale lunar features, resembling a target ring bullseye.