Orbital and Surface Photography

Description

Apollo 14 was equipped with photographic equipment and materials to (1) obtain photographs of the transposition, docking, lunar module (LM) ejection maneuver, and the LM rendezvous sequence from the command and lunar modules, (2) obtain mapping type photos of the lunar ground track and of potential landing sites from the low point of the LM's flight path, (3) record the operational activities of the crew, (4) obtain long-distance earth and lunar terrain photographs with 70-mm still cameras, and (5) obtain photos of lunar surface features and activities after landing. The camera equipment carried by Apollo 14 consisted of two 70-mm Hasselblad electric cameras, two Hasselblad data cameras, three 16-mm Maurer data acquisition cameras, one 35-mm lunar surface stereoscopic camera, and one Hycon topographic mapping camera. Various lenses were used with these cameras for specific types of photography. The performance for all the cameras was good except for the Hycon camera, which experienced a shutter problem that resulted in over-exposed film.