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Lot 133
[Lunar Orbiter V] THE FIRST PHOTOGRAPH OF THE NEARLY FULL EARTH FROM LUNAR ORBIT NASA, 8 August 1967
14 – 28 April 2025, 12:00 CEST
Paris, Avenue HocheSold for €896 inc. premium
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[Lunar Orbiter V] THE FIRST PHOTOGRAPH OF THE NEARLY FULL EARTH FROM LUNAR ORBIT
NASA, 8 August 1967
Printed 1967.
Vintage gelatin silver print on fibre-based paper [NASA image 67-H-1109, partial view of NASA Lunar Orbiter image LRC V-27H2].
With NASA caption numbered "67-H-1109" on the reverse (issued by NASA Head Quarters, Washington, D.C.).
25.4 x 20.3 cm. (10 x 8 in.)
Historical context
This extraordinary early photograph of our Home Planet is one of the rare images of Earth captured by the five Lunar Orbiter spacecraft—and the last of its kind. Taken from approximately 5,872 km (3,640 miles) above the Moon, it presents a close-up of high-resolution frame V-27H2, captured with the 610mm telephoto lens.
"To the philosopher, this picture is close to man's soul, since it allows him to look back upon his own world, and thus fosters the feeling of man's emancipation from the bounds of Earth. Perhaps to most of us the interest is due to human vanity, which dictates that self-portraits are always the best portraits."
Lee Scherer, Lunar Orbiter program manager (Cortright, p. 114)
As most Americans slept in the predawn hours of August 8, 1967, NASA's Lunar Orbiter V spacecraft trained its telephoto lens on the sunlit side of the Earth and made this first photograph of the nearly full Planet from 214,806 miles away. Lunar Orbiter V was about 3,640 miles above the surface of the Moon. The area of the Earth covered extends from 14° W longitude to the eastern terminator about 135° E longitude, a total of about 150° or approximately 5/6 of the full hemisphere. It will provide scientists with additional information on the amount of light reflected by a nearly full-Earth. (From NASA caption.)
Printed 1967.
Vintage gelatin silver print on fibre-based paper [NASA image 67-H-1109, partial view of NASA Lunar Orbiter image LRC V-27H2].
With NASA caption numbered "67-H-1109" on the reverse (issued by NASA Head Quarters, Washington, D.C.).
25.4 x 20.3 cm. (10 x 8 in.)
Historical context
This extraordinary early photograph of our Home Planet is one of the rare images of Earth captured by the five Lunar Orbiter spacecraft—and the last of its kind. Taken from approximately 5,872 km (3,640 miles) above the Moon, it presents a close-up of high-resolution frame V-27H2, captured with the 610mm telephoto lens.
"To the philosopher, this picture is close to man's soul, since it allows him to look back upon his own world, and thus fosters the feeling of man's emancipation from the bounds of Earth. Perhaps to most of us the interest is due to human vanity, which dictates that self-portraits are always the best portraits."
Lee Scherer, Lunar Orbiter program manager (Cortright, p. 114)
As most Americans slept in the predawn hours of August 8, 1967, NASA's Lunar Orbiter V spacecraft trained its telephoto lens on the sunlit side of the Earth and made this first photograph of the nearly full Planet from 214,806 miles away. Lunar Orbiter V was about 3,640 miles above the surface of the Moon. The area of the Earth covered extends from 14° W longitude to the eastern terminator about 135° E longitude, a total of about 150° or approximately 5/6 of the full hemisphere. It will provide scientists with additional information on the amount of light reflected by a nearly full-Earth. (From NASA caption.)
Footnotes
Literature
Exploring Space with a Camera (NASA SP-168), Cortright, ed., p. 115
Moon: Man's Greatest Adventure, Thomas, ed., p. 143
Watch more
CLICK HERE: Assignment, Shoot the Moon (1967)
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