Planets and Moons ID: 3530

Apollo 15 Rectified Anaglyph Stereo Panorama

Visualizations by Helen-Nicole Kostis Released on August 1, 2008

The Apollo program was designed to land men on the Moon and return them safely to Earth. Apollo 15 was the ninth manned mission of a series and the fourth to land men on the moon. The mission was the first flight of the Lunar Roving Vehicle, which enabled astronauts to explore the geology of the lunar regions. Orbital science experiments and science photography were performed on the Apollo missions during lunar orbit. Several types of cameras were used during the missions to perform the photography experiments. During Apollo 15, 16 and 17 missions, panoramic cameras were used to capture high-resolution imagery in monoscopic and stereoscopic modes to study the lunar surface.
This page offers a corrected stereoscopic pair in Anaglyph 3D mode captured during Apollo mission 15. The imagery features craters: Krieger, Rocco and Ruth. You can navigate the online image by using the zoom and pan controls at the bottom center of the online image viewer and use the inset red box at the upper left corner as a reference. Red/Cyan stereo glasses are required to view it properly.

Data Notes:
August 4, 1971
The lunar stereo still imagery provided in this page used as source material archived panoramic recitifed film photographs. Nearly all the panoramic photographs from the Apollo 15, 16 and 17 missions have been rectified and are archived in the NASA/GSFC campus. The rectification process corrected the camera and viewing distortions, as it results in a vertical projection of the lunar surface.The rectified photographs are more accurate for stereoscopic use than the original panoramic photographs. Detailed information is provided below:

Image Collection: Panoramic
Mission: 15
Magazine: P
Camera: 610-mm (24-in.) ITEK panoramic camera
Revolution: 72
Latitude/Longitude: 29° N/ 45°W
Lens Focal Length: 24 inch
Stereo Pairs:AS15-P-10320 (Forward Camera Look), AS15-P-10325 (After Camera Look)
Camera Altitude: 109 km
Sun Elevation: 20°
Film type: 3414
Film Width: 5 inch
Image Width: 45.24 inch
Image Height: 4.5 inch
Film Color: black and white
Features: Craters Krieger, Rocco, Ruth

Low resolution lunar stereo imagery can be found at the Apollo Image Atlas Panoramic Catalog hosted by the Lunar and Planetary Institute.
For a detailed index map of panoramic camera photographs, composite of all REVs, please visit: http://www.lpi.usra.edu/resources/mapcatalog/apolloindex/apollo15/as15indexmap01/

Visualization Credits

Helen-Nicole Kostis (UMBC): Lead Animator
Alex Kekesi (Global Science and Technology, Inc.): Animator
Jay Friedlander (QSS): Scientist
David R. Williams (NASA/GSFC): Scientist

Please give credit for this item to:
NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio Apollo 15 rectified panoramic stereo film imagery is courtesy of Jay Friedlander (NASA/GSFC)