Posts: 3774 From: Ontario, Canada Registered: Oct 2010
posted 06-17-2017 08:12 PM
I don't suppose there are too many times when an EVA photo taken in Earth orbit has by chance captured the moon in the background.
This STS-103 EVA-2 (Michael Foale and Claude Nicollier) Hubble photo is one example:
LM-12 Member
Posts: 3774 From: Ontario, Canada Registered: Oct 2010
posted 06-18-2017 10:47 AM
This STS-88 photo is another good one. That is Jerry Ross.
LM-12 Member
Posts: 3774 From: Ontario, Canada Registered: Oct 2010
posted 10-22-2017 09:57 AM
The moon can be seen in one of the photos taken during the Apollo 9 EVA in 1969. Photo AS09-20-3058 shows the open command module hatch at left, lunar module pilot Rusty Schweickart's shadow and the distant moon.
heng44 Member
Posts: 3663 From: Netherlands Registered: Nov 2001
posted 10-22-2017 10:57 AM
You seem to notice a lot of things in photos that other miss, including myself. Very nice find.
LM-12 Member
Posts: 3774 From: Ontario, Canada Registered: Oct 2010
posted 10-22-2017 11:20 AM
Thanks, Ed. It's great that they had the foresight to well-document those early missions on film so we can still do stuff like this decades later.
LM-12 Member
Posts: 3774 From: Ontario, Canada Registered: Oct 2010
posted 10-22-2017 10:11 PM
In these photos, the moon from Earth orbit looks a lot smaller than it does from the ground. Is that because of the camera lenses used to take the photos, or does the Earth's atmosphere just make the moon appear larger from the ground?
LM-12 Member
Posts: 3774 From: Ontario, Canada Registered: Oct 2010
posted 10-23-2017 01:28 PM
Karen Nyberg commented on this (the size of the moon) in this tweet.
I'll never forget how big the moon looked the first time I saw it when back on Earth after six months on the ISS. I was in awe, used to it looking like this.
canyon42 Member
Posts: 241 From: Ohio Registered: Mar 2006
posted 10-24-2017 07:15 PM
The atmosphere has almost zero magnifying effect, with the exception of some things happening due to refraction when it is very close to the horizon. Otherwise, my guess as to why astronauts might perceive it as looking smaller is that there is nothing up around it to compare it to visually, with the exception of the whole entire huge Earth. The Earth is of course "visible" to us on the ground as well, but we likely edit it out of our awareness to a degree since it is always there — plus, there are additional visual cues such as buildings and trees and so on.
As far as photos go, the moon's apparent size in an image is going to be a direct result of whatever focal length lens is being used. For images that show a large swath of the Earth and/or the ISS, for example, a fairly wide-angle lens is probably being used, which will give a pretty small moon image.
LM-12 Member
Posts: 3774 From: Ontario, Canada Registered: Oct 2010
posted 10-24-2017 09:31 PM
Photo STS-61B-45-043 is another EVA view of the moon. That is Jerry Ross.
The moon looks so much farther away in Earth-orbit photos. Hard to believe that is the same big, bright moon we see in the night sky. It's like an optical illusion. Thanks for the explanation.
canyon42 Member
Posts: 241 From: Ohio Registered: Mar 2006
posted 10-28-2017 04:34 PM
As a sort of corollary, think about how small the Earth looks in the photos it appears in taken from the surface of the moon, even though it is four times as large (in terms of diameter) as the moon is from our viewpoint. In the photos where it appears much bigger (such as the Apollo 8 Earthrise image) a longer lens was used.
LM-12 Member
Posts: 3774 From: Ontario, Canada Registered: Oct 2010
posted 10-28-2017 08:43 PM
Perhaps the Earthrise view from the Kaguya spacecraft more closely resembles what it would look like to the unaided eye.
canyon42 Member
Posts: 241 From: Ohio Registered: Mar 2006
posted 10-29-2017 06:58 PM
That's really cool.
LM-12 Member
Posts: 3774 From: Ontario, Canada Registered: Oct 2010
posted 11-01-2017 01:00 PM
Gene Cernan on Gemini 9A managed to capture the moon on REV 32 in EVA photo S66-38062 which is looking aft at the adapter section.
From earlier in the EVA when Cernan was behind the adapter at the AMU:
Cernan: Who said this visor wouldn't fog up?
Stafford: Is it fogging on you?
Cernan: Yes.
Stafford: Okay.
Stafford: Understand visor is fogging. Okay. Next break, attach those temperature sensors if you can see them.
Stafford: You're going to have the moon back there in just a minute.
Cernan: Okay. I've got the temperature sensors on. I had them both on, and one fell off.
Stafford: Okay. Attach - unstow and attach to the controller arm in the following order: Oxygen hose - -
Cernan: I've got to take a rest, Tom.
LM-12 Member
Posts: 3774 From: Ontario, Canada Registered: Oct 2010
posted 11-05-2017 07:49 AM
Not an EVA photo, but the moon is also seen above the Gemini 7 spacecraft in Gemini 6A rendezvous photo S65-63183 taken on REV 5.
The moon phase seems to match the bright light seen in this night station-keeping photo of the Gemini 7 spacecraft. (The image is reversed.)
CC: Gemini VI, Gemini VI, Houston CAP COM. How do you read?
Stafford: Loud and clear, Houston. Go ahead.
CC: Could you give us a report on your night station-keeping?
Stafford: No trouble at all. We're about 20 feet apart, using the docking lights and the cabin lights of the spacecraft.
CC: Roger. Understand no trouble at all. 20 feet apart. Using the docking lights on VI.
Stafford: We're using the docking lights from VI to illuminate - -
CC: Roger, understand. Docking lights on VI to illuminate VII.
LM-12 Member
Posts: 3774 From: Ontario, Canada Registered: Oct 2010
posted 11-13-2017 12:17 PM
quote:Originally posted by LM-12: The moon can be seen in one of the photos taken during the Apollo 9 EVA in 1969.
Also, from the mission transcripts at 03 01 08 18 GET during the EVA:
Schweickart: Boy, oh boy; what a view!
Scott: Isn't that spectacular?
Schweickart: It really is. There's the moon right over there.
LM-12 Member
Posts: 3774 From: Ontario, Canada Registered: Oct 2010
posted 11-18-2017 09:21 AM
EVA photo iss041e067003 taken on Expedition 41 shows Reid Wiseman with the moon in the background.
LM-12 Member
Posts: 3774 From: Ontario, Canada Registered: Oct 2010
posted 07-22-2020 02:57 PM
The tiny crescent moon can be seen in this Expedition 63 photo of Chris Cassidy taken during EVA-67 on July 16, 2020.
LM-12 Member
Posts: 3774 From: Ontario, Canada Registered: Oct 2010
posted 04-30-2023 09:06 AM
The moon can be seen in this Expedition 69 video still captured during US EVA 86 on April 28, 2023.
posted 06-17-2017 08:12 PM
Very nice find.
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