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America and the Sea of Serenity

Get out yourred/blue glasses andcheck out this stereo view of another world.Fifty years agothescene was recordedby Apollo 17 mission commanderEugene Cernan on December 11, 1972,one orbit before descending to land on the Moon.The stereo anaglyph was assembled from two photographs(AS17-147-22465, AS17-147-22466)captured from his vantage point on board the Lunar Module Challenger as heand Dr. Harrison Schmitt flew over Apollo 17'slanding site in theTaurus-LittrowValley.The broad, sunlit face of the mountain dubbedSouth Massif rises near the centerof the frame, above the dark floor ofTaurus-Littrow to its left.Piloted by Ron Evans, the Command Module America isvisible in orbit in the foreground against theSouth Massif's peak.Beyond the mountains, toward the lunar limb, lies the Moon'sMare Serenitatis.

Gene Cernan,Apollo 17,NASA;Anaglyph byPatrick Vantuyne

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Last Updated
Dec 10, 2022
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