Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Dr. Jack Schmitt salutes LROC's Mark Robinson and the LRO camera team at Arizona State

Region of Taurus-Littrow valley around the Apollo 17 landing site (Full Release Image) [NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University].

Mark Klesius
The Daily Planet
Smithsonian Air & Space


"We emailed moonwalker Harrison Schmitt, the Apollo 17 lunar module pilot and the only geologist—the only scientist—to have walked on the moon, and asked him if he’d seen the new photos of his old stomping grounds. He had. Anything strike him as different from the way it looked in December 1972?"

Read the full post, HERE.

Dr. Harrison Schmitt minutes after beginning the first EVA of the last manned mission to the lunar surface at Taurus-Littrow, near the eastern edge of Mare Serenitatis, early December 12, 1972 [High Resolution/Apollo 17 Surface Journal].

Just seeing this overhead, high sun angle detail of the Apollo 17 landing site in the Valley of Taurus-Littrow strikes my interest!” Schmitt wrote. “The pre-Apollo 17 photography we had for planning was at lower sun angles and at least ten times lower resolution. Having a record of our activities in the vicinity of the Challenger stirs great memories. My appreciation and awe goes to Mark Robinson and his LRO team.”

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