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Original vintage glossy 20.25 x 24 silver gelatin photograph of a highly oblique image of the floor of Copernicus crater on the moon, taken by the Lunar Orbiter II on November 24, 1966, an image that was deemed the ‘Picture of the Century.’ In very good to fine condition, with scattered light creasing, and some small stains to the bottom border.
‘Lunar Orbiter II recorded this image at 7:05 p.m. EST on November 24, 1966, from 28.4 miles above the Moon's surface, and about 150 miles due south of Copernicus. The clarity of the view is attributable to the absence of atmosphere. A photograph from similar altitudes of distant features on Earth would never be as sharp, because of haze.
Copernicus is about 60 miles across and 2 miles deep: 3000-foot cliffs, apparently landslide scarps, can be seen. Peaks near the center of the crater form a small mountain range, about 1500-2000 feet high and 10 miles long.
The Lunar Orbiter photography was accomplished with two cameras: one having a 3-inch focal length and the other a 24-inch focal length. These cameras were boresighted, so that each high-resolution photo was always contained in a moderate-resolution frame. Lunar Orbiter cameras were relatively conventional film cameras that combined a Bimat chemical development process with an electronic scanning readout for transmission by radio to Earth. The film images provided a very effective method of storing information for transmission bit by bit, at a modest rate.’
Originates from the personal collection of NASA engineer John B. Graham, Jr. (1934-2024), who worked side-by-side with many of the legendary astronauts from the Apollo, Gemini, and Mercury programs, and served as head of recovery during the latter program. Amongst his many positions, Graham was responsible for reconstructing images that were taken from deep space for orbital tracking purposes. As such, he holds the honor of being the first person to ever view a photograph of the Earth from the moon's surface.
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