[Apollo 15] DAVID SCOTT LEANING IN ONE-SIXTH GRAVITY, SETTING UP EXPERIMENTS AT HADLEY James Irw...

[Apollo 15] DAVID SCOTT LEANING IN ONE-SIXTH GRAVITY, SETTING UP EXPERIMENTS AT HADLEY James Irwin, 26 July - 7 August 1971, EVA 2 Printed 1971. Vintage chromogenic print on fibre-based Kodak paper [NASA image AS15-87-11847]. Numbered 'NASA AS15-87-11847' in red in the top margin, with 'A Kodak Paper' watermark on the reverse (issued by NASA Manned Spacecraft Centre, Houston, Texas). 20.3 x 25.4 cm. (8 x 10 in.) Historical context Gracefully moving in a one-sixth gravity world. This stunning photograph, part of a panoramic sequence taken by James Irwin at the Apollo 15 scientific site (ALSEP site), captures David Scott leaning to his right to pick up the drill for the Heat Flow Experiment. Early in the Apollo program, astronauts moved cautiously in their spacesuits, acutely aware of the lethal risks of their environment. By later missions, however, their confidence in the suits' durability had grown, allowing them to leap, stumble, and manoeuvre with greater ease—transforming the Moon into a true field laboratory for human exploration. In the foreground, the Solar Wind Spectrometer sits prominently, while astronaut footprints mark the fine lunar soil, a testament to the extensive scientific work conducted in this area. Towering in the background is the immense Mount Hadley, rising 4,200 meters (14,765 feet) above the Hadley-Apennine plain, bathed in full sunlight. Footnotes: From the mission transcript when the panoramic sequence was taken: 147:37:27 Allen (Mission Control): ...have you taken a photo pan from the ALSEP site? [...] 147:37:34 Irwin: I'll probably be running out of film. 147:37:37 Allen: Okay, there's still more mags... 147:37:39 Irwin: I'll have to go back and change mags. 147:37:40 Allen: ...under the seat there, if you want to change them out. 147:37:42 Irwin: Yeah. Okay. (Long Pause) 147:38:40 Irwin: Okay, the pan at the ALSEP site's complete. I'll go out and photo the heat flow. Literature NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC, February 1972, p. 244 LIFE, 20 August 1971, p. 29 For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com For further information about this lot please visit the lot listing