Moon Apollo Lunar Sample Photographs
Product Information:
This set of archive volumes contains digital scanned versions of original film photographs of rock, soil, and core samples collected from the lunar surface during the Apollo 11, 12, 14, 15, 16, and 17 missions. Samples were received, cataloged, photographed and processed at the Lunar Receiving Laboratory and subsequently in the Lunar Curation Laboratory, at the NASA Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center (JSC) in Houston, Texas. Lunar Sample Catalog documentation for samples is also included.
The Apollo program collected samples from the Moon during six missions from 1969 through 1972. The curation of the Apollo samples included the taking of high quality photographs, often referred to as “Mug Shots” before the samples were processed. Additional pictures were taken as the samples were subdivided for study. The initial set of photographs for each rock sample included 6 orthogonal views (4 sides, top and bottom) and an orthogonal set of 16 stereo pairs. Samples that were studied extensively have over a hundred photographs. There are 292 rocks over 100 grams (approximately a fist sized rock) and the collection of photographs numbers 25,131. An additional 9,148 photographs document rocks less than 100 grams. The entire collection contains 34,279 photographs. The original film negatives for this collection are safely stored in a controlled environment film vault at JSC.
The lunar sample film negatives have been scanned at a resolution of 2540 pixels per inch (ppi, equivalent to 100 pixels/mm) and 16-bit color depth. This is sufficient to resolve features approximately 10 microns in size and capture the full dynamic range of the original film types used. Full-resolution image files are in uncompressed Tagged Image File Format (.tif) revision 6.0 format. Full resolution, reduced resolution, and thumbnail compressed Joint Photographic Experts Group (.jpg) ITU-T T.81, ISO/IEC IS 10918-1 standard format versions of the .tif files are also included. Relevant Lunar Sample Catalog ancillary documents for samples in this archive and their reference documents are included in Portable Document Format (.pdf) version 1.3.
References:
Garcia, P. A., Stefanov, W. L., Lofgren, G. E., Todd, N. S., & Gaddis, L. R. (2013). PDS Archive Release of Apollo 11, Apollo 12, and Apollo 17 Lunar Rock Sample Images. Paper presented at the 44th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference, Lunar and Planetary Institute, Houston, TX. https://www.lpi.usra.edu/meetings/lpsc2013/pdf/2646.pdf
Garcia, P. A., Todd, N. S., Lofgren, G. E., Stefanov, W. L., Runco, S. K., LaBasse, D., & Gaddis, L. R. (2011). Restoration and PDS Archive of Apollo Lunar Rock Sample Data. Paper presented at the 42nd Lunar and Planetary Science Conference, Lunar and Planetary Institute, Houston, TX. https://www.lpi.usra.edu/meetings/lpsc2011/pdf/2310.pdf
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA; 2016). Lunar Sample and Photo Catalog. https://curator.jsc.nasa.gov/lunar/samplecatalog/
Todd, N. S., & Evans, C. (2015). Improving the Discoverability and Availability of Sample Data and Imagery in NASA's Astromaterials Curation Digital Repository Using a New Common Architecture for Sample Databases. Paper presented at the 2nd Planetary Data Workshop, Lunar and Planetary Institute, Flagstaff, AZ. https://www.hou.usra.edu/meetings/planetdata2015/pdf/7065.pdf
Todd, N. S., Lofgren, G. E., Stefanov, W. L., & Garcia, P. A. (2014). The Apollo Lunar Sample Image Collection: Digital Archiving and Online Access. In Astromaterials Research & Exploration Science Biennial Report 2011-2012 (pp. 46-50). Houston, TX: NASA Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center. https://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/20150003810.pdf
- Mimetype
- text/xml
- Filename
- ApolloMissionLunarSamplePhotographsArchive
- Originator
- USGS Astrogeology Science Center, NASA Johnson Space Center
- Group
- PDS
- Added to Astropedia
- 19 December 2019
- Modified
- 11 June 2020
General
- Purpose
The purpose of these archives is to make available in a digital form through the Planetary Data System (PDS) the collection of Apollo returned sample images for both scientific and public use. The generation of these archives was sponsored by the NASA Research Opportunities in Space and Earth Sciences, Lunar Advanced Science and Exploration Research Program; and the PDS.
- Geospatial Data Presentation Form
- Archive, Image
- Online Linkage
- https://pdsimage2.wr.usgs.gov/Missions/Apollo/Lunar_Sample_Photographs
- Native Data Set Environment
- ISIS v3
- Supplemental Information
- https://curator.jsc.nasa.gov/lunar/samplecatalog/, https://www.nasa.gov/specials/apollo50th/missions.html, https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/apollo/missions/index.html
Keywords
Lineage
- PDS Status
- PDS 3 In Review
- Source Online Linkage
- https://curator.jsc.nasa.gov/lunar/index.cfm, https://pdsimage2.wr.usgs.gov/Missions/Apollo/Lunar_Sample_Photographs
Geospatial Information
- Direct Spatial Reference Method
- Raster
- Object Type
- Pixel
- Horizontal Coordinate System Units
- Meters
