386: Charles Duke's inspection of North Ray Crater's rim and Outhouse Rock, station 11 (two photos), John Young [Apollo 16], 16-27 April 1972, EVA 3 < One Giant Leap for Mankind: Vintage Photographs from the Victor Martin-Malburet Collection, 28 October 2022 < Auctions

North Ray Crater was an irregular shaped crater at the foot of Smoky mountain, about 1000m across but with a depth of 240m and steep-sided walls making it one of the principal targets for scientific research.

The main objective at North Ray was to sample large rocks on the rim which would hopefully be bedrock ejected from the deepest part of the crater. (Constantine, pg. 108)

Apollo 16 EVA—One of two photos making a stereo pair showing the “Sudbury breccia” rock on the southeast rim of North Ray Crater, exposed during the third Apollo 16 extravehicular activity (EVA-3), April 23, 1972. A lunar surface rake leans against the rock. The “Sudbury breccia” was not sampled by the crewmen. This photograph was exposed by John W. Young, commander, with a color magazine in his 70mm Hasselblad camera.
[NASA caption for the first photograph]

In the second photograph, Charles Duke is pointing to a sample location on the face of Outhouse Rock, a large break-off piece south of House Rock, “approximately 5 by 2 by 2.5 m” (NASA SP-315, pg. 7.35) on the southeast rim of North ray Crater.

He holds a sample bag in his right hand. The cuff checklist on his left wrist indicates the tasks to be performed at each station. His Hasselblad camera is clearly visible mounted on his chest.

“In the back of my mind was, you never knew what was going to be behind the next rock. So it was like an Easter-egg hunt—What am I going to find next?”

Los Angeles Modern Auctions (LAMA)

Artists & Designers (0)

Upcoming Items (0)

Past Items (0)

Resources (4)

Charles Duke's inspection of North Ray Crater's rim and Outhouse Rock, station 11 (two photos), John Young [Apollo 16], 16-27 April 1972, EVA 3

Charles Duke's inspection of North Ray Crater's rim and Outhouse Rock, station 11 (two photos), John Young [Apollo 16], 16-27 April 1972, EVA 3

North Ray Crater was an irregular shaped crater at the foot of Smoky mountain, about 1000m across but with a depth of 240m and steep-sided walls making it one of the principal targets for scientific research.

“In the back of my mind was, you never knew what was going to be behind the next rock. So it was like an Easter-egg hunt—What am I going to find next?”

—Charles Duke (Chaikin, Voices, pg. 82)

Learn More about this Collection