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Lot 218
[Apollo 10] THE MISSION'S FINAL VIEW FROM LUNAR ORBIT: Central Bay at Sunrise John Young, Eugene Cernan, or Thomas Stafford, May 18-26, 1969
14 – 28 April 2025, 12:00 CEST
Paris, Avenue HocheSold for €563.20 inc. premium
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[Apollo 10] THE MISSION'S FINAL VIEW FROM LUNAR ORBIT: Central Bay at Sunrise
John Young, Eugene Cernan, or Thomas Stafford, May 18-26, 1969
Printed 1969.
Vintage chromogenic print on fibre-based Kodak paper [NASA image AS10-27-3907].
With "A Kodak Paper" watermark on the reverse (issued by NASA / North American Rockwell, Downey, California). (North American Rockwell was NASA's prime contractor for the Apollo Command and Service Modules).
25.4 x 20.3 cm. (10 x 8 in.)
Historical context
Captured during Apollo 10's 31st and final lunar orbit, this stunning photograph looks west across the nearside terminator, marking the boundary between lunar day and night. Taken through the 80mm lens, the image reveals remarkable surface detail, highlighting site 3 in Central Bay—one of five proposed Apollo landing sites. Following Apollo 10's observations, NASA ultimately selected Site 2 in the Sea of Tranquillity for Apollo 11's historic first Moon landing.
The low Sun angle accentuates subtle undulations in the mare terrain, making the seemingly smooth surface appear more rugged. The small, 6.7-km Crater Bruce is visible near the bottom, while Landing Site 3 lies just beyond the pronounced ridge in the top half of the image.
With this final view, Apollo 10 concluded its orbital survey, and the crew prepared for the critical Trans-Earth Injection burn to begin their journey home.
"The spacecraft remained in the vicinity of the Moon much longer than did the Apollo 8 spacecraft. This allowed more time for observations and extended coverage of a previously unphotographed segment of the Moon as the sunrise terminator moved from the vicinity of Apollo landing site 2 to the vicinity of Apollo landing site 3."
—Apollo 10 crew observations (NASA SP-232, p. 1)
Printed 1969.
Vintage chromogenic print on fibre-based Kodak paper [NASA image AS10-27-3907].
With "A Kodak Paper" watermark on the reverse (issued by NASA / North American Rockwell, Downey, California). (North American Rockwell was NASA's prime contractor for the Apollo Command and Service Modules).
25.4 x 20.3 cm. (10 x 8 in.)
Historical context
Captured during Apollo 10's 31st and final lunar orbit, this stunning photograph looks west across the nearside terminator, marking the boundary between lunar day and night. Taken through the 80mm lens, the image reveals remarkable surface detail, highlighting site 3 in Central Bay—one of five proposed Apollo landing sites. Following Apollo 10's observations, NASA ultimately selected Site 2 in the Sea of Tranquillity for Apollo 11's historic first Moon landing.
The low Sun angle accentuates subtle undulations in the mare terrain, making the seemingly smooth surface appear more rugged. The small, 6.7-km Crater Bruce is visible near the bottom, while Landing Site 3 lies just beyond the pronounced ridge in the top half of the image.
With this final view, Apollo 10 concluded its orbital survey, and the crew prepared for the critical Trans-Earth Injection burn to begin their journey home.
"The spacecraft remained in the vicinity of the Moon much longer than did the Apollo 8 spacecraft. This allowed more time for observations and extended coverage of a previously unphotographed segment of the Moon as the sunrise terminator moved from the vicinity of Apollo landing site 2 to the vicinity of Apollo landing site 3."
—Apollo 10 crew observations (NASA SP-232, p. 1)
Footnotes
From the mission transcript when the photograph was taken :
136:25:12 Stafford: And we have Landing Site 3 coming up right ahead. It's also marked by the craters [garble]. [...]
136:25:57 Stafford: In the area [garble, probably 'between'] Landing Site 2 and Site 3 [garble] the highland area [garble] really marked with a lot of volcanic activity. You can see it all over. You can see the old impact [garble] volcanic activity.
Literature
Time, 6 June 1969, pp. 64-65 Apollo: Through the Eyes of the Astronauts, Jacobs, p. 50