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Remarkable pairing of original vintage semi-glossy 13.75 x 13.25 silver gelatin photographs of the moon's surface taken by Lunar Orbiter 3 in February 1967, displayed as a diptych showing the Crater Galilaei in the Planitia Descensus on the left, and the Crater Kepler and its vicinity on the right. Affixed to a 33 x 23.5 mount, with affixed captions below each image: "Lunar Orbiter III - 80mm Lens, Medium Resolution Photograph of Site S-30 (KI-3056). When this photograph was taken, Orbiter was at about 65° W and 7° N at an altitude of about 36 statute miles. The view is looking North toward the area of Galilaei near the horizon which is about 100 miles away. Near the center of the photograph (vertically and horizontally) is the rugged region in which the Russian Luna 9 is reported to have made its soft landing. The northeast rim of the large crater Cavalerius appears near the lower left corner of this scene" and "Lunar Orbiter III - 80mm Lens, Medium Resolution Photograph of Site S-26 (KI-3049). This photograph of the crater Kepler and vicinity was taken with the Orbiter at an altitude of about 36 statute miles and at a distance of about 80 statute miles from the crater. The Orbiter was at a position of about 38°W slightly North of the moon's equator, looking North when the photograph was made. The crater Kepler is about 20 miles in diameter and 7500 feet deep. The prominent mountain on the horizon is about 220 miles away; this mountain is unnamed. The crater Encke is just outside the field of view on the lower right." In very good condition, with some scattered staining and moisture damage to the right side of the large mount.
Now known as the 'Planitia Descensus'—the Plain of Descent—this is the only officially named plain on the moon, commemorating the first successful soft landing of the Russian Luna 9 on February 3, 1966. The IAU confirmed the name of the site in 1970. The Crater Kepler, named for the 17th-century German astronomer and mathematician Johannes Kepler, lies between the Oceanus Procellarum and Mare Insularum.
