ORIGINAL VINTAGE NASA VIEWS OF CRATERS BOHNENBERGER & ARGELANDER

A pair of rare and wholly original orbital views taken from the Apollo 16 spacecraft in April 1972, showing in sharp detail the lunar surface in the region of the craters Bohnenberger and Argelander on the Moon’s nearside.

Two vintage chromogenic prints on fibre-based Kodak paper, each measuring approximately 25.4 × 20.3 cm (10 × 8 inches). Both with “A KODAK PAPER” watermarks to the versos and red-numbered in the upper margin of each on the recto:

NASA AS16-118-19016
NASA AS16-119-19035
[NASA Manned Spacecraft Center]

Taken by one of the Apollo 16 crew — Charles Duke, John Young or Ken Mattingly — during the mission.

Mission Context

Apollo 16 was the tenth crewed mission in the Apollo programme and the fifth to land on the Moon. While Duke and Young explored the Descartes Highlands on the surface, Mattingly remained in lunar orbit, conducting extensive photographic and scientific observations.

These oblique orbital photographs reveal the extraordinary variation in lunar topography — a point memorably expressed by John Young:

“The thing that impressed me about the Moon is how different regions are so different. Now they all look the same to the geophysicist. But they sure look different to the people that are orbiting close in. Every little crater's got a different characteristic. And it's sure hard to pick out till you get down there and really look at 'em.”

Condition

Near Fine to Very Good. Well-preserved. Very light marginal creasing to the top right corner of one photo (printed area unaffected), with a couple of smaller creases in the lower right corner. Strong tonal range and clarity overall. Please examine gallery images closely and request a detailed condition report if required.

Two original red-numbered Apollo 16 lunar photographs from one of the most scientifically productive missions of the Apollo era.