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Lot 219
[Apollo 10] 'FANTASTIC' VIEW OF THE MOON'S DISK AFTER TRANS EARTH INJECTION John Young, Eugene Cernan or Thomas Stafford, 18-26 May 1969
14 – 28 April 2025, 12:00 CEST
Paris, Avenue HocheSold for €512 inc. premium
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[Apollo 10] 'FANTASTIC' VIEW OF THE MOON'S DISK AFTER TRANS EARTH INJECTION
John Young, Eugene Cernan or Thomas Stafford, 18-26 May 1969
Printed 1969.
Vintage chromogenic print on fibre-based Kodak paper [NASA image AS10-27-3948].
With "A Kodak Paper" watermark on the reverse (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
Following the Trans-Earth Injection burn over the lunar far side, the Apollo 10 crew witnessed and captured a fantastic view of the receding Moon—one never visible from Earth. Using the 80mm Hasselblad lens, they recorded this extraordinary sight while reflecting on their journey home. Their amazement is evident in these extracts from the mission transcript:
137:52:50 Stafford: We're taking all kinds of pictures. I've got the tubes, Gene-o has the sequence camera, and John has the Hasselblad. We're getting all this documented.
137:55:58 Stafford: I thought it was a fantastic view leaving the Earth, but it is going to be an even more fantastic one leaving the Moon here and heading back to the good old Earth.
138:02:36 Cernan: Joe, this is incredible. That thing [the Moon] is getting rounder and rounder and rounder and smaller all the time.
Printed 1969.
Vintage chromogenic print on fibre-based Kodak paper [NASA image AS10-27-3948].
With "A Kodak Paper" watermark on the reverse (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
Following the Trans-Earth Injection burn over the lunar far side, the Apollo 10 crew witnessed and captured a fantastic view of the receding Moon—one never visible from Earth. Using the 80mm Hasselblad lens, they recorded this extraordinary sight while reflecting on their journey home. Their amazement is evident in these extracts from the mission transcript:
137:52:50 Stafford: We're taking all kinds of pictures. I've got the tubes, Gene-o has the sequence camera, and John has the Hasselblad. We're getting all this documented.
137:55:58 Stafford: I thought it was a fantastic view leaving the Earth, but it is going to be an even more fantastic one leaving the Moon here and heading back to the good old Earth.
138:02:36 Cernan: Joe, this is incredible. That thing [the Moon] is getting rounder and rounder and rounder and smaller all the time.
Footnotes
From the mission transcript after trans Earth injection:
137:46:27 Engle (Mission Control): Hello, Apollo 10. This is Houston. How did the burn go?
137:46:32 Stafford: Roger, Houston. We are returning to the Earth. Over.
137:46:38 Engle: Glad to have you on the way back home, 10.
137:46:43 Stafford: Roger. The burn was absolutely beautiful and Gene-o has a report, and we have a fantastic view of the Moon now. Over. [...]
137:52:50 Stafford: We're taking all kinds of pictures. I've got the tubes, Gene-o has the sequence camera, and John has the Hasselblad. We're getting all this documented. [...]
137:55:58 Stafford: I thought it was a fantastic view leaving the Earth, but it is going to be even more fantastic one leaving the Moon here and heading back to the good old Earth. [...]
137:58:27 Stafford: In fact, looking straight ahead, just now coming into view, even though we're really starting to climb out from it - In fact, I can finally see the whole Moon right in the hatch window. [...]
137:58:53 Stafford: Boy, you can't believe this rate of climb. It looks like we're just going out just vertically. Just beautiful. It would scare the heck out of you if you came at this angle, but maybe it was just because we came in the dark and didn't see the thing. Over. [...]
138:02:36 Cernan: Joe, this is incredible. That thing [the Moon] is getting rounder and rounder and rounder and smaller all the time.
138:02:40 Engle (Mission Control): Rog, Gene-o. Understand.
138:02:46 Cernan: The real show is on the inside here; it's like three monkeys in a string pod. [...]
138:04:49 Cernan: Hey, Joe, the Moon is almost small enough now where I can see the whole thing from the top, one corner of my forward window to the other corner of my forward window. [...]
138:05:32 Engle: You guys are really hauling the mail out there. [...]
138:08:33 Cernan: Hey, Joe, down at 9 miles [16.7 km] has to be exciting, but this has got to be unbelievable. The wind - the Moon now is well within the boundaries of my forward rendezvous window. [...]
138:10:21 Cernan: See what I mean about size, Joe. It just about fills up, round wise, right smack in the hatch window. Boy, and is this a full Moon, I'll tell you.
138:10:39 Engle: You're just about 1,400 [nautical] miles [2,600 km] out now, Gene.
Literature
LIFE, 6 June 1969, p. 33
Watch more
CLICK HERE: Apollo 10 - 16-mm magazine 1096-W