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  Help with purpose of Lunar Orbiter maps

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Author Topic:   Help with purpose of Lunar Orbiter maps
DebKoons
Member

Posts: 21
From: El Dorado, KS
Registered: Feb 2014

posted 02-01-2015 01:52 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for DebKoons     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Hoping someone has some ideas. I have a set of five maps, photo enlargements with info and notations, for which I'm trying to figure out the purpose.

I've tried googling for Apollo lunar landing site info, but don't see anything that matches these. I've tried googling for the coordinates that are written on one of them, to no avail. I've loaded photos into a PhotoBucket album - any ideas appreciated.

One Big Monkey
Member

Posts: 169
From: West Yorkshire, UK
Registered: Jul 2012

posted 02-01-2015 04:07 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for One Big Monkey     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
I can definitely tell you that the sheet labelled 'Apollo landing site 2' is the one that covers Apollo 11.

The actual landing site was below the 'exclamation mark' craters within the larger elipse. The intended landing zone for 11 was supposed to be within 'bullseye' drawn on, and they actually used that area to reproduce it for training at Cinder Lakes.

I've done a little about that on my site here.

I suspect the other pages might well be the other suggested landing sites for 11.

DebKoons
Member

Posts: 21
From: El Dorado, KS
Registered: Feb 2014

posted 02-02-2015 11:03 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for DebKoons     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
This is excellent info, thank you so much! I had a feeling it was Apollo 11, but didn't want to post that in my original question since I didn't have anything on the maps that definitively said it was. It just made sense due to the dates.

I found another piece similar to those five, but this one has "Apollo 13" on a label at the top, and some other labels on it. My uncle must have used the same type photos when they were working on the Apollo 13 mission. I uploaded three more photos, of this last piece I found, if you're interested in seeing it.

I also have large photos from his collection on eBay, and I want to list these two (the five-piece set and the Apollo 13 piece). Do you have any thoughts about value? I don't see items like this necessarily do well at places like Heritage Auctions, but would these two being Apollo 11 and Apollo 13 change that perception?

Thanks again for any additional info, and I love your site (hoaxers - eyeroll).

One Big Monkey
Member

Posts: 169
From: West Yorkshire, UK
Registered: Jul 2012

posted 02-02-2015 11:48 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for One Big Monkey     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Difficult to say about value (as with all things) - I've seen larger scale prints of Lunar Orbiter images go on eBay for around $30-$50 depending on quality - quite a few were produced for general sale (I have a couple that used to belong to a University).

Yours seem to have a more unique claim, and if you have any kind of provenance showing that they were involved in mission planning, rather than just reproductions of that, then obviously they are of much more interest.

You might want to contact the people at the Lunar Orbiter Image Recovery Project. They used to maintain [URLhttp://www.moonviews.com/]a website[/URL] but stopped in December. There is a link to their social media stuff there though.

This site has some prints for sale, but you need to register to see the prices.

Oh, and glad you liked my site - hope you found the rest of it as well as the Lunar Orbiter images!

DebKoons
Member

Posts: 21
From: El Dorado, KS
Registered: Feb 2014

posted 02-02-2015 01:47 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for DebKoons     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Thanks again. Yes, these were my uncle's - he was in Flight Control during Apollo, and was also a key engineer for the MET and the LRV. He was also a geologist, and worked on the ALSEP projects. I and my family can attest that they've been in our family since my grandfather packed them up in the spring of 1973, after my uncle was killed mountain-climbing in Argentina, right after Apollo 17. There are several pieces of footage of him in NASA's Apollo 17 documentary. So they aren't repros.

I've been selling the various items on eBay for about 14 months now, after Mom decided to not keep it all (about 15 boxes), and I include a Letter of Provenance with each item. Some of them have been hard to ID so it's taking time. I still have manuals and photos, and two boxes of memos to go through and try to make logical "groupings."

Thanks also for that link, I will check it out and also the auction results. I have been checking several resources, sometimes I don't find much or at all about some items, such as some very thick LRV manuals. I have some interesting things I've held back, to check out whether they'd be better offered through an auction house. I need an assistant or three.

And yes, I did save your site to explore further. Lots of work there!! I have a lot of photos my dad saved from the early days of Project Mercury to get scanned and do something with - need the time...

DebKoons
Member

Posts: 21
From: El Dorado, KS
Registered: Feb 2014

posted 02-02-2015 06:46 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for DebKoons     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Okay, those prices at that art website are amazing. I also have a couple of photos on eBay right now that may be from the LRC but not labeled as my six are. Hmm. I also have no idea if they are silver gelatin or what.

Wondering if I just need to pull those and sit on all these for now until I can meet with someone who can tell me more about everything. These photos may need to be in an archive or special collection facility, rather than sold on eBay to a private collector.

Thanks so much for your info and time!

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