Lunar surface photographs are primarily of three types: (1) surface
activities, to document the condition, performance, orientation, or setting of equipment and
the effectiveness of procedures; (2) sample documentation photographs,
to record features or materials that were not collected; and
(3) panoramic views, to provide for the accurate location of traverse
stations and to provide the capability to reconstruct the geologic setting of the landing
site.
Surface Activities.
During the stay on the lunar surface, the commander (CDR) and the lunar module pilot (LMP)
exposed more than 2200 frames in their Hasselblad DCs. One magazine of DAC film was used to
record the commander's initial activities on the lunar surface as viewed from the lunar module
window; the lunar module DAC was not used again until liftoff.
Scientist-Astronaut Harrison H. Schmitt is photographed seated in the lunar roving vehicle at
Station 9 (Van Serg Crater) during the third Apollo 17 extravehicular activity (EVA 3) at the
Taurus-Littrow landing site. This photograph was taken by Astronaut Eugene A. Cernan, crew
commander.
The massive, broken boulder at Station 6 is shown in this composite photograph. Scoop marks in
the debris on the side of the boulder mark the location of a sample collected by the LMP. The
boulder is a breccia, a rock composed of fragments of other rocks. The LRV, with the antenna
pointed toward Earth, is parked to the right of the boulder. South Massif, eight kilometers
distant, forms the right half of the skyline; East Massif forms the left half.
Sample Documentation.
Sample documentation includes photographs of boulders from which samples were collected and
photographs that illustrate the use of sampling tools. Perhaps the most widely known and highly
publicized samples of the Apollo 17 mission were from the "orange soil" found at Shorty Crater
during EVA 2.
Sampling at Station 6 centered around the boulder behind the LMP. The dark bootprints in the
foreground and near the base of the boulder indicate the areas of astronaut activity.
The LMP uses the rake to collect a sample of rocks ranging from 1 to 4 centimeters in diameter.
A soil sample was collected in the same area. The Hasselblad camera is attached to the romote
control unit; the PLSS and the oxygen purge system comprise the backpack.
The LMP uses the scoop to collect a sample at Station 5. The high density of boulders along the
rim of Camelot Crater is shown in this photograph.
The orange soil on the rim of Shorty Crater can be seen on both sides of the LRV. The rim of
the crater extends from the left foreground to the middle right edge of the photograph. Samples
were collected between the LRV and the large boulder. The low mountain centered on the horizon
is Family Mountain, 6 kilometers in the distance.
A close-up of the trench dug in the orange band of soil.
Panoramic Views.
Features too large to record in single frames were documented in partial panoramas. The general
setting of a station was routinely recorded in a complete 360° panorama. The 500-millimeter
lens provided the capability to record distant features in single frames or in partial
panoramas.
A view of the Taurus-Littrow landing site as seen from the lunar module window before liftoff.
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Apollo 17 Table of Contents
Camera Equipment
