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Lot 20
[Apollo 16] LUNAR F1 GRAND PRIX: John Young puts the Rover through a speed workout Charles Duke, 16-27 April 1972, EVA 1
14 – 28 April 2025, 12:00 CEST
Paris, Avenue HocheSold for €1,408 inc. premium
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[Apollo 16] LUNAR F1 GRAND PRIX: John Young puts the Rover through a speed workout
Charles Duke, 16-27 April 1972, EVA 1
Printed 1972.
Vintage chromogenic print on fibre-based Kodak paper [NASA image S-72-37002].
With "A Kodak Paper" watermark on the reverse, numbered "NASA S-72-37002" in red in the top margin (issued by NASA Manned Spacecraft Centre, Houston, Texas).
20.3 x 25.4 cm. (8 x 10 in.)
Historical context
The iconic image of the F1 Grand Prix on the Moon.
In a spectacular test of lunar mobility, John Young takes the Lunar Rover for a high-speed run at the end of the first EVA at the Descartes landing site. Kicking up rooster tails of dust, Young pushes the limits of driving in the Moon's one-sixth gravity, manoeuvring the vehicle toward the Lunar Module (out of view to the right) with Smoky Mountain on the horizon.
This frame is taken from motion picture film exposed by a handheld 16mm Maurer camera operated by Charles Duke. Watching the spectacle unfold, Duke couldn't help but remark: "Man, I'll tell you, Indy (meaning the Indianapolis 500)'s never seen a driver like this!" (See mission transcript.)
The sequence captures the Rover skidding, bouncing, and even briefly lifting off the ground as Young navigates the rugged terrain—demonstrating both the vehicle's agility and the Moon's low gravity effects.
"I didn't get up to any great speed – maybe 10 clicks at the most – but the terrain around there was too rough and too rocky for that kind of foolishness."
—John Young (1972 Technical Debrief, ALSJ mission transcript, 124:59:32 GET)
Printed 1972.
Vintage chromogenic print on fibre-based Kodak paper [NASA image S-72-37002].
With "A Kodak Paper" watermark on the reverse, numbered "NASA S-72-37002" in red in the top margin (issued by NASA Manned Spacecraft Centre, Houston, Texas).
20.3 x 25.4 cm. (8 x 10 in.)
Historical context
The iconic image of the F1 Grand Prix on the Moon.
In a spectacular test of lunar mobility, John Young takes the Lunar Rover for a high-speed run at the end of the first EVA at the Descartes landing site. Kicking up rooster tails of dust, Young pushes the limits of driving in the Moon's one-sixth gravity, manoeuvring the vehicle toward the Lunar Module (out of view to the right) with Smoky Mountain on the horizon.
This frame is taken from motion picture film exposed by a handheld 16mm Maurer camera operated by Charles Duke. Watching the spectacle unfold, Duke couldn't help but remark: "Man, I'll tell you, Indy (meaning the Indianapolis 500)'s never seen a driver like this!" (See mission transcript.)
The sequence captures the Rover skidding, bouncing, and even briefly lifting off the ground as Young navigates the rugged terrain—demonstrating both the vehicle's agility and the Moon's low gravity effects.
"I didn't get up to any great speed – maybe 10 clicks at the most – but the terrain around there was too rough and too rocky for that kind of foolishness."
—John Young (1972 Technical Debrief, ALSJ mission transcript, 124:59:32 GET)
Footnotes
From the mission transcript when the photograph was taken:
124:52:30 Duke: Okay, John. We need to stop out here for the Grand Prix. [...]
124:52:39 Young: Here's a flat place, sort of. [...]
124:55:09 Duke: Okay. Well, wait. Why don't you just drive towards the LM. Let me move out here, and you just drive towards the LM, turn around, and then drive towards Stone. [...]
124:55:20 Duke: Let me get the camera. Let me get it set here now. It's 24 (frames per second). [...]
124:56:58 Duke: DAC (16mm camera)'s on; Mark. (Pause) That max acceleration?!
124:57:06 Young: No.
124:57:10 Duke: Man, you are really bouncing! (Pause)
124:57:14 England (Mission Control): Is he on the ground at all...
124:57:16 Young: Okay; that's 10 kilometres (per hour). (Hearing England) Huh?
124:57:20 Duke: (To England) He's got about two wheels on the ground. There's a big rooster tail out of all four wheels. And as he turns, he skids. The back-end breaks loose just like on snow. Come on back, John. (Pause) And the DAC is running. Man, I'll tell you, Indy (meaning the Indianapolis 500)'s never seen a driver like this. (Pause) Okay, when he hits the craters and starts bouncing is when he gets his rooster tail. He makes sharp turns. Hey, that was a good stop. Those wheels just locked.
Literature
Apollo: The Epic Journey to the Moon, Reynolds, p. 189
Watch more
CLICK HERE: The Apollo 16 LRV Grand Prix - stabilised
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