573 a
NASA / Unidentified Photographer

The crew departing for the Moon

Apollo 16, April 16, 1972

Three vintage gelatin silver prints on fiber-based paper, each 20.3 x 25.4cm (8 x 10in), with NASA KSC captions on the versos

573 b
NASA / Unidentified Photographer

Liftoff

Apollo 16, April 16, 1972, 000:00:03 GET

Vintage chromogenic print on resin coated Kodak paper, 20.3 x 25.4cm (8 x 10in), with “A Kodak Paper” watermarks on the verso

573 c
NASA / Unidentified Photographer

Vice-President Agnew watching the launch with NASA administrator James Fletcher and deputy administrator George Low at the Launch Control Center

Apollo 16, April 16, 1972

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

573 d
NASA / Unidentified Photographer

Wide-angle view of the liftoff

Apollo 16, April 16, 1972, 000:00:10 GET

Vintage chromogenic print on fiber-based Kodak paper, 20.3 x 25.4cm (8 x 10in), with NASA MSC caption and “A Kodak Paper” watermarks on the verso, numbered “NASA S-72-35345” in red in top margin (NASA MSC)

573 e
John Young, Ken Mattingly or Charles Duke

The curved Earth horizon following translunar injection

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 AS16-118-18865” (NASA MSC) in red in top margin, with three filing holes in top margin
20.3 x 25.4cm (8 x 10in)

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.
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

573 a
On launch day the astronauts “ate breakfast in their crew quarters, suited up and travelled about
13 km to the launch site where they boarded the Apollo Command Module to await the final 2 ½ hours prior to launch” (NASA caption, second photograph).

Commander John Young, making his second trip to the Moon, was photographed during suiting up while speaking with Director of Flight Operation Donald Slayton (first photograph).
He was joined by Lunar Module Pilot Charles Duke reviewing one last time the flight plan while undergoing spacesuit pressure checks prior to his launch (second photograph) and Command Module Pilot Thomas Mattingly about to enter the spacecraft (third photograph), who was pulled
from his previous Apollo 13 assignment after being exposed to the measles.

Mattingly occupied the center couch during liftoff, with Young at his left and Duke at his right.

573 b
The huge, 363-feet tall Apollo 16 (Spacecraft 113/Lunar Module 11/Saturn 510) space vehicle is
launched from Pad A, launch Complex 39, Kennedy Space Center (KSC), Florida, at 12:54:00.569 p.m.(EST), April 16, 1972, on a lunar landing mission.

573 d
“Going to the Moon is an extraordinary thing! It doesn’t matter if you’re first or last; it’s extraordinary.”
Ken Mattingly (Chaikin, Voices, p. 165)

573 e
From the mission transcript after translunar Injection:

002:42:10 Duke: Look at that horizon start to streak.
002:42:18 Young: You want to swap seats?
002:42:14 Duke: Yeah. [...]
002:42:29 Duke: Give - give us the camera.
002:42:30 Mattingly: Yeah. [...]
002 43 31 Duke: Okay, that’s a 250-millimeter lens
you got - you want there. We don’t want that. We
want a Earth picture.