Title from caption on object: "Moon's Backside Photographed”

August 1966

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Associated Names
National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Artist, American, est. 1958

This is an image showing an overhead view of a cratered surface, resembling that of a celestial body like the moon. The scene focuses on the textures of the surface, with numerous craters of different sizes scattered throughout. Some craters are deep, casting shadows, while others are shallow. The image appears to capture real textures, suggesting a photographic method. It is predominantly monochrome, with shades of gray ranging from dark shadows within craters to lighter areas where light hits the surface. Horizontal lines running across the image hint at a scan or print process. The absence of colors other than varying grays enhances the barren feel of the terrain.
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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    gelatin silver print

  • Credit Line

    Gift of Mary and Dan Solomon

  • Dimensions

    image/sheet: 22.4 × 17 cm (8 13/16 × 6 11/16 in.)

  • Accession Number

    2018.21.38

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

(Historic Images, Memphis); Mary and Dan Solomon, Monarch Beach, CA; gift to NGA, 2018.

Associated Names

Inscriptions

top center printed in negative: (TOP); on verso, upper right printed in black ink on applied barcode label: historicimages.com / spa9125; by unknown hand, center in blue ink: Px; center stamped in red ink: CHRONICLE / AUG 22 1966; lower center printed in black ink on applied newspaper: [reproduction of image] / Moon's [circled in black ink] Backside Photographed / This is the first U.S. photograph of the moon by a high-resolution camera, taken / by the Lunar Orbiter spacecraft yesterday and radioed to the Goldstone, Calif., / tracking station. It shows an area of approximately 75 miles by 100 miles. The / sun was on the left at an elevation of 20 degrees. (AP wirephoto.) (Story, P. 14); by unknown hand, bottom center in graphite partially below applied newspaper: [illegible] / backside

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