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Lot 331
[Apollo 13] STUNNING CRESCENT EARTH: framed in the window of approaching lifeboat LM Aquarius Fred Haise, 11-17 April 1970
14 – 28 April 2025, 12:00 CEST
Paris, Avenue HocheSold for €512 inc. premium
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[Apollo 13] STUNNING CRESCENT EARTH: framed in the window of approaching lifeboat LM Aquarius
Fred Haise, 11-17 April 1970
Printed 1970.
Vintage gelatin silver print on fibre-based paper [NASA image AS13-59-8497].
Numbered "NASA AS13-59-8497" in black in the top margin (issued by NASA Manned Spacecraft Centre, Houston, Texas).
20.3 x 25.4 cm. (8 x 10 in.)
Historical context
Earth Rushes Toward Apollo 13—A rare unreleased photograph from the miracle journey. To the relief of the Apollo 13 crew, Earth is "whistling in like a high-speed freight train" through their spacecraft window (see mission transcript).
While enduring the freezing darkness of their crippled spacecraft, Fred Haise captured this breathtaking photograph of the crescent Earth growing larger in the window of the Lunar Module. Using the Hasselblad 500 EL Data Camera (originally intended for lunar surface photography) with a 60mm lens and black-and-white magazine 59/R, he documented their impending return.
At this moment, Apollo 13 was 48,000 nautical miles from Earth—just seven hours from re-entry. The crew was about to begin their final critical manoeuvres: jettisoning the damaged Service Module, transferring back into the Command Module, and preparing for re-entry.
"We do not realize what we have on Earth until we leave it."
James Lovell (upon receiving the Medal of Freedom from President Nixon after his safe return from the Moon)
Printed 1970.
Vintage gelatin silver print on fibre-based paper [NASA image AS13-59-8497].
Numbered "NASA AS13-59-8497" in black in the top margin (issued by NASA Manned Spacecraft Centre, Houston, Texas).
20.3 x 25.4 cm. (8 x 10 in.)
Historical context
Earth Rushes Toward Apollo 13—A rare unreleased photograph from the miracle journey. To the relief of the Apollo 13 crew, Earth is "whistling in like a high-speed freight train" through their spacecraft window (see mission transcript).
While enduring the freezing darkness of their crippled spacecraft, Fred Haise captured this breathtaking photograph of the crescent Earth growing larger in the window of the Lunar Module. Using the Hasselblad 500 EL Data Camera (originally intended for lunar surface photography) with a 60mm lens and black-and-white magazine 59/R, he documented their impending return.
At this moment, Apollo 13 was 48,000 nautical miles from Earth—just seven hours from re-entry. The crew was about to begin their final critical manoeuvres: jettisoning the damaged Service Module, transferring back into the Command Module, and preparing for re-entry.
"We do not realize what we have on Earth until we leave it."
James Lovell (upon receiving the Medal of Freedom from President Nixon after his safe return from the Moon)
Footnotes
From the mission transcript when the photograph was taken:
135:46:52 Lovell: I'm looking out the window now, Jack, and that Earth is whistling in like a high-speed freight train.
135:47:13 Lousma (Mission Control): We're clocking you at 48 000 miles and coming in at about 9000.
135:47:21 Lovell: I don't think there's many LMs that have seen it like this. I'm still looking for Fra Mauro and Cone Crater.
135:47:38 Slayton (Mission Control): You're going the wrong way, son.