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 17 panoramas and, where appropriate, provides updated representations of the panoramas blended using more recent technologies than the originals.
Apollo 17 was the sixth and final lunar landing of the Apollo program. It was also the first (and only) landing to feature a non-test-pilot-trained astronaut with Harrison ("Jack") Schmitt becoming the first geologist to reach another world. As might be expected, Apollo 17 benefitted from the experience gained from its predecessors and its crew broke a number of records; longest duration on the Moon, furthest travelled on the Lunar Rover, heaviest amount of samples returned, being some examples.
In terms of photography, both members of the crew (Commander (Gene Cernan) and Lunar Module Pilot (Jack Schmitt)) contributed roughly equivalent numbers of panoramic shots. There is an appreciable jump in the quality of the panoramas taken on this mission though; there is better overlap between the component photos and the subject coverage appears to be more diverse.
The Lunar Module (LM), Challenger, landed with its door and ladder leg (AKA "+Z strut") pointing approximately due west. The Sun's elevation[2] was around 15°-19° for EVA 1, 27°-31° for EVA 2, and 39°-47° for EVA 3.
Charlie Duke is credited with inventing a new procedure during EVA 2; the "LRV Pan" or "Rover Pan" (also known as a "360")[3]. The process of getting onto and off of the rover was protracted due to the bulky suit and backpack that the astronauts wore, but Duke realised that by having Young drive the rover in a tight circle he could snap a panoramic sequence simply by pointing the camera straight ahead and continuously pressing the shutter button from his seated position ("click - click - click - click - click -click"[4])
Although efficient in terms of time and effort, the approach presented some issues:-
Panoramic sequences are best shot from a single position - in these cases the camera was moved for each shot
Every shot contains foreground items (the rover's TV camera and antenna) that impact on as much as 50% each of image
The camera is subject to the movements and orientation of the rover
Camera settings have to be changed "On the fly"
The first noted LRV Pan was the sequence AS16-115-18503 to 18511 - see "Timestamp 148:41:11" above. Empirical analysis suggests that the sequence is limited to AS16-115-18107 to 18711 and the result is shown below:-
First recorded "LRC Pan" - Apollo 16 - AS16-115-18503-18511.jpg
With the extensive coverage in the prior missions, Non-EVA panoramas were eschewed in preference for those taken on the surface. After the final EVA, a few additional pans were taken, certainly to use up the remaining film, but also in the sense of nostalgia at the passing of the program.
These tables catalogue the panoramic photos captured during the Apollo 16 mission. Entries in the 'Updated Panorama' column have been created using panorama blending software working on the High Resolution scans of the original frames held as the "Project Apollo Archive" on Flickr.[6] Where a Reference Panorama is pre-existing, that has been used in preference to creating a new variant, unless there is 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 the removal of some frame-edges, have not been adjusted.
All 5-digit image references relate to the last 5 digits of the image names. The full image names follow the format AS16-MMM-NNNNN, where MMM relates to the Magazine number and NNNNN is the identifier.
EVA images include the overlaying of Réseau plate "crosses" to assist in their post-mission evaluation.
Almost all tabular data, such as time and image identifiers, has been extracted from the source location such as the ALSJ or LPI. The entries in the 'Title' column relate to the term used for the panorama as listed in the source's 'Assembled Panoramas' section.[7]