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Lunar Panoramic Photography - Apollo 14

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NASA's Apollo Lunar Surface Journal (ALSJ)[1] records the details of each mission's time on the lunar surface as a timeline of the activities undertaken, the dialogue between the crew and Mission Control, and the relevant documentary records. Each photograph taken on the mission is catalogued there and each photographic sequence is also recorded. This page tabulates the Apollo 14 panoramas and, where appropriate, provides updated representations of the panoramas blended using more recent technologies than the originals.

Context

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Despite the successes of Apollo 11 and Apollo 12, Apollo 14 was something of a "Recovery Mission" following the incomplete nature of Apollo 13. Since the decision had already been made for Apollo 13 to visit the Fra Mauro Formation for scientific purposes, this was simply moved forward to be Apollo 14's destination as well. Also, since the mission was designated as an "H" Mission, the profile was similar to the earlier H missions, Apollo 12 (and 13), which called for two EVAs rather than the 3 later in the program. Like Apollo 12, the majority of these EVAs occurred "off-camera" as the TV camera was not designed to be portable. The crew were equipped with the Modular Equipment Transporter - a hand-pulled, "workbench" that only made an appearance on this mission. It featured in one of the two highlights from the EVAs as the crew gamefully tried to manouvre it to the rim of Cone Crater before giving up just 20m short. The other highlight, and probably the event that the mission is best remembered for, was when the Commander, Alan Shepard, attached the head of a golf club to a rake handle and struck a couple of golf balls.

In terms of photography, Apollo 14's crew proved to be less "trigger-happy" than the preceding Apollo 12 crew and only took 417 pictures on the Moon, compared to 583 on the earlier mission. However, 288 of these were components of 17 distinct panoramas and ALSJ lists another 25 sub-panoramas within these.

The post-mission Preliminary Science Report[2] indicates that the crew took 15[3] panoramas but appears to have missed the "Station C" and "Weird Rock" pans. In some cases, the complete, 360° panoramas were impacted by the low Sun angle and greater detail can be gained by omitting the down-Sun exposures from the panoramic sequences, hence some of the sub-panoramas.

To assist in gaining bearings, the Lunar Module (LM) Antares, landed with its door and ladder leg (AKA "+Z strut") pointing approximately 20° north of due west. The Sun's elevation[4] was between 13° and 15.5° for EVA 1, and 122° and 24.3° for EVA 2.

Non-EVA (LM-based) panoramas

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Being the 3rd mission to land on the Moon, the emphasis on taking 'Contingency' photos had declined by Apollo 14. Subsequently, only three LM-based panoramas were taken; on landing, between the two EVAs, and prior to departing.

Table 14.1 Non-EVA panoramas
Mission Time (MET) EVA # Location Astronaut Magazine Type Start Frame End Frame Alternate Panorama Reference Reference Panorama Notes
XIV 109:46:23 Pre-EVA Post-Landing Combined Window Pan Shepherd/Mitchell 65 Monochrome 9202 9215 N/A ALSJ
Although referenced in the Preliminary Science Report, this "panorama" is really two sub-panoramas taken through each of the main windows on the Lunar Module. The result presented by ALSJ is disjointed because of the separation between camera locations and the parallax issues that causes. The two sub-panoramas are below.
XIV 109:46:23 Pre-EVA Post-Landing LMP Window Pan Mitchell 65 Monochrome 9202 9207
ALSJ
Sub-panorama of "Combined" version above. Alternate variant shows different image blending
XIV 109:46:23 Pre-EVA Post-Landing CDR Window Pan Shepherd 65 Monochrome 9209 9215
ALSJ
Sub-panorama of "Combined" version above. Alternate variant shows different image blending
XIV 119:42:01 Inter-EVA Post-EVA-1 Window Pan Shepherd 66 Colour 9317 9326 N/A ALSJ
As with the Post-Landing Combined Window Pan presented above, this ALSJ-referenced image is best considered as two sub-panoramas (see below) due to the difference in position of the component shots.
XIV 119:42:01 Inter-EVA Post-EVA-1 CDR Window Pan Shepherd 66 Colour 9317 9322
ALSJ-inferred N/A Sub-panorama of Post-EVA-1 Window Pan above.
XIV 119:42:01 Inter-EVA Post-EVA-1 LMP Window Pan Mitchell 66 Colour 9323 9326
ALSJ-inferred N/A Sub-panorama of Post-EVA-1 Window Pan above.
XIV 136:26:06 Post-EVA Post-EVA-2 Window Pan Mitchell 66 Colour 9335 9343 N/A ALSJ

EVA Panoramas

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The Apollo 14 crew, Alan Shepard and Ed Mitchell, whether constrained by their workload or otherwise, were less inclined to pause to take photos than their predecessors.

Table 14.2 EVA panoramas
Mission Time (MET) EVA # Location Astronaut Magazine Type Start Frame End Frame Alternate Panorama Reference Reference Panorama Notes
XIV 114:53:38 EVA 1 LM 4 O'clock Pan Shepherd 66 Colour 9236 9257 N/A ALSJ
XIV 114:53:38 EVA 1 LM 4 O'clock Pan Hi-Res Shepherd 66 Colour 9236 9257 N/A ALSJ
Assembled from later releases of Hi-Res scans
XIV 114:53:38 EVA 1 LM 4 O'clock Pan Artistic Shepherd 66 Colour 9236 9257 N/A ALSJ
As listed on ALSJ
XIV 114:53:38 EVA 1 LM 4 O'clock Pan 3rd Version Shepherd 66 Colour 9236 9257 N/A ALSJ
As listed on ALSJ
XIV 114:53:38 EVA 1 LM 4 O'clock Pan LM Shepherd 66 Colour 9250 9254 N/A ALSJ
Sub-panorama featuring just the LM. [This appears to be an error in the ALSJ; This description states that it is AS14-66-9250 through 9255, and yet the displayed image is only 9254 to 9255]
XIV 114:53:38 EVA 1 LM 4 O'clock Pan LM - Alternate Shepherd 66 Colour 9250 9257
ALSJ N/A Sub-panorama featuring the LM and immediate vicinity - alternate to LM 4 O'clock Pan LM above.
XIV 114:53:38 EVA 1 LM 4 O'clock Pan Portrait Shepherd 66 Colour 9254 9255 N/A ALSJ
Sub-Panorama featuring just the LM
XIV 114:53:38 EVA 1 LM 8 O'clock Pan Shepherd 66 Colour 9271 9293 N/A ALSJ
[A possible error in the ALSJ timetime - this image is indexed at the same time (114:53:38) as the LM 4 O'clock Pan above.]
XIV 114:57:20 EVA 1 LM 12 O'clock Pan Shepherd 66 Colour 9294 9316 N/A ALSJ
XIV 114:57:20 EVA 1 LM 12 O'clock Pan East Hi-Res Shepherd 66 Colour 9298 9312 N/A ALSJ
Sub-panorama
XIV 114:57:20 EVA 1 LM 12 O'clock Pan West Hi-Res Shepherd 66 Colour 9294 9316 N/A ALSJ
Sub-panorama - 9310-9316 then 9294-9300
XIV 114:57:20 EVA 1 LM 12 O'clock Pan Cone Shepherd 66 Colour 9305 9306 N/A ALSJ
Sub-panorama - Cone Ridge just to the left of the spacecraft
XIV 132:16:44 EVA 2 Station A Pan Mitchell 68 Colour 9394 9408 N/A ALSJ
XIV 132:16:44 EVA 2 Station A Pan Minipan Mitchell 68 Colour 9404 9405 N/A ALSJ
Sub-panorama of Apollo 14 - Station A Pan above.
XIV 132:16:44 EVA 2 Station A Pan Hi-Res Mitchell 69 Colour 9404 9407 N/A ALSJ
Sub-panorama of Apollo 14 - Station A Pan above.
XIV 132:34:22 EVA 2 Station B Pan Shepherd 64 Mono 9049 9072 N/A ALSJ
XIV 132:50:31 EVA 2 Station B1 Pan - Profile Shepherd 64 Mono 9075 9097 N/A ALSJ
A subtle variation between this and the 'Back' variant (below) - this uses 9089 to show Mitchell in profile
XIV 132:50:31 EVA 2 Station B1 Pan - Back Shepherd 64 Mono 9075 9097 N/A ALSJ
This uses 9088 to show Mitchell's back - see 'Profile' variant above
XIV 132:50:31 EVA 2 Station B1 Pan - Mini-pan Shepherd 64 Mono 9088 9089
ALSJ
Sub-panorama
XIV 132:57:52 EVA 2 Station B2 Pan Mitchell 68 Mono 9415 9429 N/A ALSJ
XIV 132:57:52 EVA 2 Station B2 Pan North Mitchell 68 Mono 9415 9425 N/A ALSJ
Sub-Panorama - Annotated
XIV 132:57:52 EVA 2 Station B2 Pan Sun View Mitchell 68 Mono 9421 9422 N/A ALSJ
XIV 133:14:34 EVA 2 Station B3 Pan Mitchell 68 Mono 9430 9442 N/A ALSJ
This is an unusual sequence, left-to-right it runs 9439-9442, then 9430-9438 - it's almost as if Mitchell realised he could capture a larger pan by adding more component shots at the end
XIV 133:14:34 EVA 2 Station B3 North Mitchell 68 Mono 9430 9438 N/A ALSJ
Sub-panorama (Incorrectly marked in ALSJ as being at 132:57:52)
XIV 133:23:40 EVA 2 Station C-Prime Pan Shepherd 64 Mono 9098 9122 N/A ALSJ
XIV 133:23:40 EVA 2 Station C-Prime Pan Hi-Res South Shepherd 64 Mono 9111 9121 N/A ALSJ
Sub-panorama
XIV 133:23:40 EVA 2 Station C-Prime Pan Hi-Res North Shepherd 64 Mono 9098 9107 N/A ALSJ
Sub-panorama
XIV 133:23:40 EVA 2 Station C-Prime Pan Hi-Res MET Shepherd 64 Mono 9119 9122 N/A ALSJ
(ASLJ has incorrectly labelled the source images for this, it should read AS-64-9119-9122 (Not 9019-9022))
XIV 133:23:40 EVA 2 Station C-Prime Pan Hi-Res Mini-pan Shepherd 64 Mono 9117 9120 N/A ALSJ
XIV 133:40:48 EVA 2 Station C1 Pan Mitchell 68 Mono 9448 9451 N/A ALSJ
Unusual "broken" panorama. The original sources do not overlap. Included because referenced by both ALSJ and the Preliminary Science Report.
XIV 133:40:48 EVA 2 Station C1 Pan Hi-Res Saddle Mitchell 68 Mono 9449 9451 N/A ALSJ
Sub-panorama
XIV 134:04:53 EVA 2 Weird Rock Shepherd 64 Mono 9135 9136 N/A ALSJ
XIV 134:07:18 EVA 2 Station F Pan Shepherd 64 Mono 9137 9157 N/A ALSJ
XIV 134:07:18 EVA 2 Station F Pan - Cone Shepherd 64 Mono 9145 9152 N/A ALSJ
Sub-panorama
XIV 134:36:42 EVA 2 Station G Pan Shepherd 64 Mono 9167 9187 N/A ALSJ
XIV 134:36:42 EVA 2 Station G Pan Detail Shepherd 64 Mono 9167 9187 N/A ALSJ
Sub-panorama
XIV 135:01:30 EVA 2 Station H Pan Mitchell 68 Mono 9477 9491 N/A ALSJ
XIV 135:01:30 EVA 2 Station H Pan Detail Mitchell 68 Mono 9486 9487 N/A ALSJ
Sub-panorama

See Also

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Footnotes

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These tables catalogue the panoramic photos captured during the Apollo 14 mission. Those thumbnails in the "Reference Panorama" and "Notes" columns have been included from 'official' NASA resources such as ALSJ and LPI. Entries in the 'Panorama' column have created using panorama blending software using the High Resolution scans of the original frames held as the "Project Apollo Archive" on Flickr.[5] Where a Reference Panorama is pre-existing, that has been used in preference to creating a new variant, unless there is a additional value to be gained by regenerating it. Apart from some source image masking, all such new variants have been created using the minimum of processing, relying on the software package's inherent blending and optimisation capabilities - typically, such panoramas have been created within 3-5 minutes as they are intended to be 'representations' rather than 'definitive' examples. Consequently, brightness and contrast levels, as well as some frame-edges, have not been adjusted. EVA images include the overlaying of Réseau plate "crosses" to assist in their post-mission evaluation.

All 4-digit image references relate to the last 4 digits of the image names. The full image names follow the format AS12-MM-NNNN, where MM relates to the Magazine number and NNNN is the identifier.

All tabular data, such as time and image identifiers, has been extracted from the ALSJ. The entries in the 'Location' column relate to the term used for the panorama as listed in the ALSJ's 'Assembled Panoramas' section

References

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  1. ^ "Apollo Lunar Surface Journal". www.nasa.gov.
  2. ^ "Apollo 14 Prelimiinary Science Report NASA SP-272" (PDF). Retrieved 30 March 2024.
  3. ^ "Page 41" (PDF).
  4. ^ "Sun Angles". www.nasa.gov.
  5. ^ "Project Apollo Archive". Flickr.