Automatic camera onboard Soviet Luna 9 robotic probe Associated Press wirephoto; image from the first robotic probe to soft land on the Moon. Oblique view of lunar surface and lunar horizon. 2 February 1966 Gelatin silver print, 20.5 x 25.5 (8 x 10 cm), image 17 x 23.5 (6¾ x 9 in), Associated Press wirephoto, with Associated Press stamp, a newspaper clipping and a date stamp "Feb. 5 1966" on the verso Footnotes: Luna 9 was the first robotic spacecraft to successfully soft land on the Moon in 1966. It preceded the US Surveyor 1 by around 4 months. After touchdown a television camera erected from the probe and the system began a photographic survey of the lunar environment. Seven radio sessions with a total of 8 hours and 5 minutes were transmitted, as well as three series of TV pictures. After assembly the photographs gave a panoramic view of the immediate lunar surface. Although the pictures of the Moon were initially not released by Soviet authorities, their signal format was found to be similar to the Radiofax signal universally used by newspapers to transmit pictures. Thus Jodrell Bank Observatory near Manchester was able to instantly intercept, decode and publish Luna 9's first photographs from the Moon's surface.
Automatic camera onboard Soviet Luna 9 robotic probe Associated Press wirephoto; image from the first robotic probe to soft land on the Moon. Oblique view of lunar surface and lunar horizon. 2 February 1966 Gelatin silver print, 20.5 x 25.5 (8 x 10 cm), image 17 x 23.5 (6¾ x 9 in), Associated Press wirephoto, with Associated Press stamp, a newspaper clipping and a date stamp "Feb. 5 1966" on the verso Footnotes: Luna 9 was the first robotic spacecraft to successfully soft land on the Moon in 1966. It preceded the US Surveyor 1 by around 4 months. After touchdown a television camera erected from the probe and the system began a photographic survey of the lunar environment. Seven radio sessions with a total of 8 hours and 5 minutes were transmitted, as well as three series of TV pictures. After assembly the photographs gave a panoramic view of the immediate lunar surface. Although the pictures of the Moon were initially not released by Soviet authorities, their signal format was found to be similar to the Radiofax signal universally used by newspapers to transmit pictures. Thus Jodrell Bank Observatory near Manchester was able to instantly intercept, decode and publish Luna 9's first photographs from the Moon's surface.
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.jpg "Source: Christie's")
.jpg "Source: Christie's")
