Eclectic | New York
Eclectic | New York
Lot Closed
May 1, 07:23 PM GMT
Estimate
1,400 - 2,400 USD
Lot Details
Description
LUNAR ORBITER II
"THE PICTURE OF THE CENTURY" — OBLIQUE VIEW INTO THE HEART OF CRATER COPERNICUS, 24 NOVEMBER, 1966.
Vintage silver gelatin contact print of Lunar Orbiter image II-162H3.
16 by 19¾ in. (approx. 40.6 by 50.2 cm.)
See Bowker & Hughes, Lunar Orbiter Photographic Atlas of the Moon; Illustrated in: Cortright, Exploring Space with a Camera, p 89.
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.