LUNAR ORBITER II. "THE PICTURE OF THE CENTURY" — OBLIQUE VIEW INTO CRATER COPERNICUS, 24 NOVEMBER, 1966.

LUNAR ORBITER II

"THE PICTURE OF THE CENTURY" — OBLIQUE VIEW INTO THE HEART OF CRATER COPERNICUS, 24 NOVEMBER, 1966. 

Vintage silver gelatin contact print, 16 x 19 3/4 inches, of Lunar Orbiter image II-162H₃.

Hailed by Life Magazine as "The Picture of the Century," this image was taken from approximately 28.4 miles above the lunar surface, from a vantage point of 150 miles south of the crater. Until this photo was taken, the few images that had been taken of the lunar surface were from a perpendicular angle - this was the first to be taken from an oblique angle, and thus the first ever view of the rugged surface, with its mountains and valleys. 

LITERATURE

See Bowker & Hughes, Lunar Orbiter Photographic Atlas of the Moon; Illustrated in: Cortright, Exploring Space with a Camera, p 89.