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Lot 400
[Apollo 16] CHARLES DUKE CARRYING 'BIG MULEY' NEAR THE LM ORION, UV ASTRONOMY CAMERA, LUNAR ROVER, AND U.S. FLAG John Young, 16-27 April 1972, EVA 1
14 – 28 April 2025, 12:00 CEST
Paris, Avenue HocheSold for €281.60 inc. premium
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[Apollo 16] CHARLES DUKE CARRYING 'BIG MULEY' NEAR THE LM ORION, UV ASTRONOMY CAMERA, LUNAR ROVER, AND U.S. FLAG
John Young, 16-27 April 1972, EVA 1
Printed 1972.
Vintage chromogenic print on fibre-based Kodak paper [NASA image AS16-114-18439].
With "A Kodak Paper" watermark on the reverse, numbered "NASA AS16-114-18439" 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 striking moment near the Lunar Module Orion at the end of Apollo 16's first EVA. Charles Duke stands in the LM's shadow, carrying the largest rock sample of the mission—nicknamed "Big Muley." In the foreground, the gold ultraviolet (UV) astronomy camera is in operation, designed to capture celestial objects in far-ultraviolet light, including Earth. In the background, the U.S. flag and the Lunar Rover complete this evocative lunar tableau, symbolizing Apollo 16's dual mission—human exploration and groundbreaking scientific research.
"Big Muley", a 11.7 kg boulder collected near the Lunar Rover at Station 1 is the largest sample returned from the Moon as part of the Apollo program. The rock is named after Bill Muehlberger, the Apollo 16 field geology team leader.
Printed 1972.
Vintage chromogenic print on fibre-based Kodak paper [NASA image AS16-114-18439].
With "A Kodak Paper" watermark on the reverse, numbered "NASA AS16-114-18439" 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 striking moment near the Lunar Module Orion at the end of Apollo 16's first EVA. Charles Duke stands in the LM's shadow, carrying the largest rock sample of the mission—nicknamed "Big Muley." In the foreground, the gold ultraviolet (UV) astronomy camera is in operation, designed to capture celestial objects in far-ultraviolet light, including Earth. In the background, the U.S. flag and the Lunar Rover complete this evocative lunar tableau, symbolizing Apollo 16's dual mission—human exploration and groundbreaking scientific research.
"Big Muley", a 11.7 kg boulder collected near the Lunar Rover at Station 1 is the largest sample returned from the Moon as part of the Apollo program. The rock is named after Bill Muehlberger, the Apollo 16 field geology team leader.
Footnotes
From the mission transcript when the photograph was taken:
125:24:19 Young: Houston, if I take a down-Sun (photograph), I'll have to stand in front of this contraption. You want me to do that? In front of the (UV) camera at 3 feet (focus)?
125:24:31 England (Mission Control): I guess if you stand a few feet away from it, it shouldn't be too bad. Move 8 or 10 feet away, though.
125:24:40 Young: Okay. I'll take it at 8 feet (focus). (Pause)
125:24:53 Duke: [...] That rock we picked up (next to the Rover at Station 1), the big - the muley - is... Oh, I was going to say, glass crystals; but (I) take that back. Part of it seems to be shocked, and it's a crystalline rock on the inside under all the dust. Whatever it is.
Literature
National Geographic, December 1972, p. 859
Apollo through the eyes of the astronauts, Jacobs, ed., p. 109
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