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Lot 431
[Apollo 17] HARRISON SCHMITT JUMPING INTO THE ROVER SEAT AT VAN SERG CRATER, STATION 9 Eugene Cernan, 7-19 December 1972, EVA 3
14 – 28 April 2025, 12:00 CEST
Paris, Avenue HocheSold for €1,088 inc. premium
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[Apollo 17] HARRISON SCHMITT JUMPING INTO THE ROVER SEAT AT VAN SERG CRATER, STATION 9
Eugene Cernan, 7-19 December 1972, EVA 3
Printed 1972.
Vintage chromogenic print on fibre-based Kodak paper [NASA image AS17-134-20454].
With "A Kodak Paper" watermark on the reverse, numbered "NASA AS17-134-20454" in red in the top margin (issued by NASA Manned Spacecraft Centre, Houston, Texas).
25.4 x 20.3 cm. (10 x 8 in.)
Historical context
Mounting the Rover for one last ride across the Moon.
Before departing from the last station visited on the Moon, Van Serg Crater, Eugene Cernan stepped to the front of the Lunar Rover to capture this dynamic image of Harrison Schmitt leaping into his seat.
"Mounting the Rover when space-suited takes a bit of doing. You stand facing forward by the side of the vehicle, jump upward about two feet with a simultaneous sideways push, kick your feet out ahead, and wait as you slowly settle into the seat, ideally in the correct one. Here I'm completing the job."
—Harrison Schmitt (NASA SP-350, p. 14.3)
The fully loaded Rover is prominently displayed, with its segmented mirror on the TV camera in the foreground. Schmitt's Hasselblad camera is mounted on his chest, ready to shoot pictures of the traverse. In the background, the towering East Massif forms a striking lunar backdrop, framing this unplanned yet iconic moment from Apollo 17's final EVA.
"It was sort of a target of opportunity (photograph). It was just one of those (unplanned) things you do. And it's a pretty good picture."
—Eugene Cernan (ALSJ transcript at 168:47:03 GET)
Printed 1972.
Vintage chromogenic print on fibre-based Kodak paper [NASA image AS17-134-20454].
With "A Kodak Paper" watermark on the reverse, numbered "NASA AS17-134-20454" in red in the top margin (issued by NASA Manned Spacecraft Centre, Houston, Texas).
25.4 x 20.3 cm. (10 x 8 in.)
Historical context
Mounting the Rover for one last ride across the Moon.
Before departing from the last station visited on the Moon, Van Serg Crater, Eugene Cernan stepped to the front of the Lunar Rover to capture this dynamic image of Harrison Schmitt leaping into his seat.
"Mounting the Rover when space-suited takes a bit of doing. You stand facing forward by the side of the vehicle, jump upward about two feet with a simultaneous sideways push, kick your feet out ahead, and wait as you slowly settle into the seat, ideally in the correct one. Here I'm completing the job."
—Harrison Schmitt (NASA SP-350, p. 14.3)
The fully loaded Rover is prominently displayed, with its segmented mirror on the TV camera in the foreground. Schmitt's Hasselblad camera is mounted on his chest, ready to shoot pictures of the traverse. In the background, the towering East Massif forms a striking lunar backdrop, framing this unplanned yet iconic moment from Apollo 17's final EVA.
"It was sort of a target of opportunity (photograph). It was just one of those (unplanned) things you do. And it's a pretty good picture."
—Eugene Cernan (ALSJ transcript at 168:47:03 GET)
Footnotes
From the mission transcript when the photograph was taken:
168:46:44 Cernan: Okay, Jack, (pause) we better get going.
168:46:50 Schmitt: Yeah. (Pause) You know, I don't think there is any subfloor in here. The rocks are so dust-covered that it's hard to be sure, but no rock I picked up looked like subfloor.
168:47:03 Cernan: Get on there (on the Rover) one time. (Pause)
168:47:08 Schmitt: Ready? (Pause)
168:47:12 Cernan: I got three of them (photos) that time.
Literature
National Geographic December 1973 pp. 294-295
A Man on the Moon, Chaikin, p. 244
The View from Space: American Astronaut Photography, 1962–1972, Schick and Van Haaften, p. 65