Eclectic | New York
Eclectic | New York
Lot Closed
May 1, 07:40 PM GMT
Estimate
1,200 - 1,700 USD
Lot Details
Description
LUNAR ORBITER IV
NEARSIDE OF THE MOON WITH CRATER COPERNICUS IN THE OCEANUS PROCELLARUM, THE "SEETHING BAY" (SINUS AESTUUM), AND VARIOUS LUNAR SEAS, TAKEN 11-26 MAY, 1967.
Vintage NASA Langley Research Center silver gelatin contact print of Lunar Orbiter image IV-121M.
16¾ by 20¼ in. (approx. 42.5 by 51.4 cm.)
See Bowker & Hughes, Lunar Orbiter Photographic Atlas of the Moon
A striking image of the near-full lunar disc, the left side of the image shrouded in darkness, the right reflecting the sunlight, with famous Crater Copernicus near the center of the image, in the eastern portion of the vast Oceanus Procellarum, surrounded by the Vaporum, Serenetatis, Imbrium, Nubium, and Cognitum seas.
Lunar Orbiter IV flew in high altitude polar orbits with the primary objective of mapping the near side of the Moon in high resolution, with 100% of the nearside being photographed, and 95% of the farside. A 40 by 45 foot mosaic was created at NASA's Langley Research Center using the images taken by the Lunar Orbiter IV, and visitors were allowed to stand or crawl over it. The mosaic was used to determine the sites to be photographed in higher resolution by the Lunar Orbiter V.