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Lot 383
[Apollo 15] EXTRAORDINARY VIEW OF EARTH: a slender, ethereal crescent almost entirely in shadow Alfred Worden, James Irwin or David Scott, 26 July - 7 August 1971
14 – 28 April 2025, 12:00 CEST
Paris, Avenue HocheSold for €435.20 inc. premium
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[Apollo 15] EXTRAORDINARY VIEW OF EARTH: a slender, ethereal crescent almost entirely in shadow
Alfred Worden, James Irwin or David Scott, 26 July - 7 August 1971
Printed 1971.
Vintage chromogenic print on fibre-based Kodak paper [NASA image AS15-96-13131].
With "A Kodak Paper" watermark on the reverse, numbered "NASA AS15-96-13131" 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 fragile crescent adrift in the vastness of space.
From 100,000 km away, Earth appears as an ethereal, razor-thin crescent, bathed in sunlight and partially obscured by a soft lens flare—an almost surreal, science-fiction-like vision of our home planet. Taken with a Hasselblad camera fitted with a 105mm lens, this extraordinary image captures the Earth after the last sleep period of the crew before coming back to Earth, about 8 hours from splashdown. With the Sun positioned just outside the camera's field of view, the planet is illuminated from the side, revealing only the faintest sliver of daylight. Meanwhile, behind the spacecraft, a full Moon was receding into the blackness. At this moment, the astronauts were hurtling toward the Pacific, where they would soon re-enter Earth's atmosphere. Because Endeavour's flight path has carried it over the night-time side of the Earth, only the slightest glimpse of the daylight side can be seen. Reflecting on this breathtaking sight, Commander David Scott radioed Mission Control: "Well, we just got our first view of the Earth this morning, and, can you believe it's getting larger and it's getting smaller? We see just a very, very thin sliver of a very large round ball." —David Scott (Mission transcript, 286:51:57 GET)
Printed 1971.
Vintage chromogenic print on fibre-based Kodak paper [NASA image AS15-96-13131].
With "A Kodak Paper" watermark on the reverse, numbered "NASA AS15-96-13131" 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 fragile crescent adrift in the vastness of space.
From 100,000 km away, Earth appears as an ethereal, razor-thin crescent, bathed in sunlight and partially obscured by a soft lens flare—an almost surreal, science-fiction-like vision of our home planet. Taken with a Hasselblad camera fitted with a 105mm lens, this extraordinary image captures the Earth after the last sleep period of the crew before coming back to Earth, about 8 hours from splashdown. With the Sun positioned just outside the camera's field of view, the planet is illuminated from the side, revealing only the faintest sliver of daylight. Meanwhile, behind the spacecraft, a full Moon was receding into the blackness. At this moment, the astronauts were hurtling toward the Pacific, where they would soon re-enter Earth's atmosphere. Because Endeavour's flight path has carried it over the night-time side of the Earth, only the slightest glimpse of the daylight side can be seen. Reflecting on this breathtaking sight, Commander David Scott radioed Mission Control: "Well, we just got our first view of the Earth this morning, and, can you believe it's getting larger and it's getting smaller? We see just a very, very thin sliver of a very large round ball." —David Scott (Mission transcript, 286:51:57 GET)
Footnotes
From the mission transcript as the crew woke up for their final day before landing:
286:39:03 Public affairs Officer (Mission Control): This is Apollo Control. Apparently, the crew of Apollo 15 is very definitely awake after having the Hawaiian War chant come up the air waves. The heart rates on the cardioscope here jumped somewhat on the Flight Surgeon's console as the music began. That particular version of Hawaiian War Chant done by Al Kealoha Perry. Apollo 15 now 53,782 feet - as you were - miles - nautical miles [99,604 km] from Earth, approaching at a velocity of 7,940 feet per second [2,420 m/s]. 8 hours, 35 minutes till splashdown. [...]
286:51:46 Scott: Houston, Endeavour.
286:51:52 Allen: Go ahead.
286:51:57 Scott: Well, we just got our first view of the Earth this morning, and, can you believe it's getting larger and it's getting smaller? We see just a very, very thin sliver of a very large round ball.
286:52:20 Allen: Roger, Dave. I believe that.