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Lot 21
[Apollo 15] LUNAR SURFACE PANORAMA: the majestic Hadley-Apennine valley, station 6a James Irwin, 26 July - 7 August 1971, EVA 2
14 – 28 April 2025, 12:00 CEST
Paris, Avenue HocheSold for €4,864 inc. premium
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[Apollo 15] LUNAR SURFACE PANORAMA: the majestic Hadley-Apennine valley, station 6a
James Irwin, 26 July - 7 August 1971, EVA 2
Printed 1971.
Original montage comprising six vintage gelatin silver prints on fibre-based paper collaged together [NASA image AS15-90-12180 to AS15-90-12190].
Numbered between "NASA AS15-90-12180" and "NASA AS15-90-12190" in black in the top margin, blank on the reverse (issued by NASA Manned Spacecraft Centre, Houston, Texas).
Overall size: 30 x 85 cm.
Historical context
Lunar beauty.
"I guess the most impressive moment I can remember is standing up on Hadley mountain - Hadley Delta, and looking back at the plain and seeing the LM and the rille and Mount Hadley, and the whole big picture in one - one swoop. And I think we've got some pictures for you from up there, and I believe the TV was running at the same time, and I think that was probably the most impressive sight that I've ever seen."
David Scott, (from the AFJ mission transcript at 270:24:03 GET)
This spectacular panorama was created by the astronauts so that geologists and scientists on Earth could precisely reconstruct the location and the characteristics of the stations visited by the astronauts on the Moon.
Station 6A was located about 5 km southeast of the LM, an incredible site on the North facing and steep slope of Mount Hadley Delta and the high point explored by the astronauts, about 100 m high above the Valley.
From there the crew had a magnificent view on the Hadley-Apennine Valley and the landing site. Station 6A was marked by a boulder (foreground) which had a greenish tinge, later found to come from magnesium oxide.
From left to right: Hill 305, Hadley Canyon, the North Complex, Mount Hadley (about 17 km away) and the Swann Range are in the background.
Mount Hadley rises 4,200m over the valley.
The green boulder is in the foreground.
Pluton Crater is located halfway between Hadley Canyon to the left and the base of Mount Hadley to the right, in the so-called North Complex.
The LM Facon is visible in the far background as a tiny dot in a slightly lighter area in front of Pluton Crater.
On the lunar surface, the astronauts' movements were encumbered by spacesuits and they were unable to align the cameras with a view-finder. Because they were wearing helmets, the cameras were mounted on the chests of the spacesuits. Without the benefit of a view-finder, crews were trained how to point, shoot, turn slightly, point and shoot again until a panorama of overlapping photographs was generated.
Once the crews returned to Earth, the images captured with this technology had to be printed and then hand-assembled into David Hockney-like panoramic collages that provide a spectacular boots-on-the-ground view of the lunar landscape.
Printed 1971.
Original montage comprising six vintage gelatin silver prints on fibre-based paper collaged together [NASA image AS15-90-12180 to AS15-90-12190].
Numbered between "NASA AS15-90-12180" and "NASA AS15-90-12190" in black in the top margin, blank on the reverse (issued by NASA Manned Spacecraft Centre, Houston, Texas).
Overall size: 30 x 85 cm.
Historical context
Lunar beauty.
"I guess the most impressive moment I can remember is standing up on Hadley mountain - Hadley Delta, and looking back at the plain and seeing the LM and the rille and Mount Hadley, and the whole big picture in one - one swoop. And I think we've got some pictures for you from up there, and I believe the TV was running at the same time, and I think that was probably the most impressive sight that I've ever seen."
David Scott, (from the AFJ mission transcript at 270:24:03 GET)
This spectacular panorama was created by the astronauts so that geologists and scientists on Earth could precisely reconstruct the location and the characteristics of the stations visited by the astronauts on the Moon.
Station 6A was located about 5 km southeast of the LM, an incredible site on the North facing and steep slope of Mount Hadley Delta and the high point explored by the astronauts, about 100 m high above the Valley.
From there the crew had a magnificent view on the Hadley-Apennine Valley and the landing site. Station 6A was marked by a boulder (foreground) which had a greenish tinge, later found to come from magnesium oxide.
From left to right: Hill 305, Hadley Canyon, the North Complex, Mount Hadley (about 17 km away) and the Swann Range are in the background.
Mount Hadley rises 4,200m over the valley.
The green boulder is in the foreground.
Pluton Crater is located halfway between Hadley Canyon to the left and the base of Mount Hadley to the right, in the so-called North Complex.
The LM Facon is visible in the far background as a tiny dot in a slightly lighter area in front of Pluton Crater.
On the lunar surface, the astronauts' movements were encumbered by spacesuits and they were unable to align the cameras with a view-finder. Because they were wearing helmets, the cameras were mounted on the chests of the spacesuits. Without the benefit of a view-finder, crews were trained how to point, shoot, turn slightly, point and shoot again until a panorama of overlapping photographs was generated.
Once the crews returned to Earth, the images captured with this technology had to be printed and then hand-assembled into David Hockney-like panoramic collages that provide a spectacular boots-on-the-ground view of the lunar landscape.
Footnotes
From the mission transcript when the panoramic sequence was taken:
145:07:16 Irwin: I'll be taking a pan from here, Dave.
145:07:18 Scott: Yeah, good idea.
145:07:20 Allen (Mission Control): Good idea, Jim.
145:07:23 Irwin: Looks like it's going to be our high point.
145:07:25 Allen: Beautiful.
145:07:26 Irwin: It's the high point.
Literature
Apollo 15 Preliminary Science Report, figure D.10 (variant)
Additional information
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