Inventory Number NA000048
Size 8h x 10w in
Material Vintage Gelatin Silver Print
Country of Origin United States
Year Made 1966
Status Available
FOR RELEASE: Immediately, November 30, 1966
PHOTO NO.: 66-H-1471
LANGLEY RESEARCH CENTER, HAMPTON, Va.
The floor of Copernicus in the area south of the crater is shown in the fine detail in this photograph taken by Lunar Orbiter II's telephoto lens at 7:05 pm EST, November 23. Copernicus, 60 miles in diameter and two miles deep, dominates the upper left quadrant of the Moon as seen from Earth. Distance from crater Fauth at the base of photo to near rim of Copernicus is 33 miles. Hummocky terrain in the foreground was formed by ejection of material from Copernicus after impact of a giant meteorite. Mountains rising from the flat floor of the crater are about 1,000 feet high with slopes up to 30 degrees and are covered with loose blocks and rubble. Triangular shaped flat area in the foreground on left margin is a fault trough filled by young volcanic rocks. From the horizon to the base of the photograph is about 180 miles. Crater Fauth is about 13 miles across and 4,500 feet deep. Lunar Orbiter was 28.4 miles above the surface and about 150 miles due south of the center of Copernicus when the picture was taken. This photograph was transmitted from the spacecraft to the Deep Space Network station at Goldstone, Calif., on November 28. Lunar Orbiter is a National Aeronautics and Space Administration Project managed by the Langley Research Center, Hampton, Va.
