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[Apollo 13] THE HAUNTING LUNAR SURFACE LOOMS BELOW AS THE CRIPPLED SPACECRAFT SLINGSHOTS AROUND THE MOON Jack Swigert or Fred Haise, 11-17 April 1970 image 1
[Apollo 13] THE HAUNTING LUNAR SURFACE LOOMS BELOW AS THE CRIPPLED SPACECRAFT SLINGSHOTS AROUND THE MOON Jack Swigert or Fred Haise, 11-17 April 1970 image 2
Lot 323

[Apollo 13] THE HAUNTING LUNAR SURFACE LOOMS BELOW AS THE CRIPPLED SPACECRAFT SLINGSHOTS AROUND THE MOON
Jack Swigert or Fred Haise, 11-17 April 1970

14 – 28 April 2025, 12:00 CEST
Paris, Avenue Hoche

Sold for €256 inc. premium

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[Apollo 13] THE HAUNTING LUNAR SURFACE LOOMS BELOW AS THE CRIPPLED SPACECRAFT SLINGSHOTS AROUND THE MOON

Jack Swigert or Fred Haise, 11-17 April 1970

Printed 1970.

Vintage chromogenic print on fibre-based Kodak paper [NASA image AS13-60-8635].
With "A Kodak Paper" watermark on the reverse, numbered "NASA AS13-60-8635" 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
A breathtaking view of the lunar far side terminator—captured during Apollo 13's slingshot around the Moon. This fantastic view looking east welcomed Apollo 13 as it approached the illuminated portion of the lunar far side. Captured using the Hasselblad 500 EL equipped with the 250mm telephoto lens, the image looks southeast over the 160-km-wide Crater Keeler at sunset (9.5° S / 163° E).
"As we approached the Moon, the ground informed us that we would have to use the LM descent engine a second time; this time a long 5-minute burn to speed up our return home. The manoeuvre was to take place two hours after rounding the far side of the Moon, and I was busy running down the procedures we were to use. Suddenly, I noticed that Swigert and Haise had their cameras out and were busy photographing the lunar surface. I looked at them incredulously and said, 'If we don't make this next manoeuvre correctly, you won't get your pictures developed!' They said, 'Well, you've been here before and we haven't.' Actually, some of the pictures these tourists took turned out to be very useful."

James Lovell (NASA SP-350, p. 13.4)
"It's a strange place. It's a big, beat-up rock. Not anything like on Earth, I'll tell you that... There's nothing there. It's a rock with a lot of holes in it."
Fred Haise (Chaikin, Voices, p. 146)

Footnotes

Literature
Apollo: through the eyes of the astronauts, Jacobs, ed., p. 83

Additional information

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