NASA
Framed 43.5 x 47.5 cm
Further images
John Young, astronaut and Navy veteran, salutes the U.S. flag at the Descartes landing site during the first Apollo 16 extravehicular activity (EVA-1). Young, commander of the Apollo 16 lunar landing mission, jumps up from the lunar surface as astronaut and Air Force veteran, Charles M. Duke Jr., lunar module pilot, took this picture.
The Lunar Module (LM) "Orion" is on the left. The Lunar Roving Vehicle is parked beside the LM. The object behind Young in the shade of the LM is the Far Ultraviolet Camera/Spectrograph. Stone Mountain dominates the background in this lunar scene.
AS- 16, Vintage Color - NASA Photo Red ID: AS16-113-18339
Description: (21 April 1972) --- Astronaut John W. Young, commander of the Apollo
16 lunar landing mission, leaps from the lunar surface as he salutes the United
States flag at the Descartes landing site during the first Apollo 16 extravehicular
activity (EVA-1). Astronaut Charles M. Duke, Jr., lunar module pilot, took this
picture. The Lunar Module (LM) "Orion" is on the left. The Lunar Roving Vehicle
(LRV) is parked beside the LM. The object behind Young (in the shade of the LM) is
the Far Ultraviolet Camera/Spectrograph. Stone Mountain dominates the
background in this lunar scene.
Photo: 8X10 in excellent condition. "A KODAK PAPER" watermarks on verso
Provenance
Credit: Charles Duke
Vintage chromogenic print on a fiber-based Kodak paper, 20.2 x 25.4 cm
‘A Kodak Paper’ watermarks on verso, numbered NASA AS16-113-18339 in red in top margin
[NASA description] Astronaut John W. Young, commander of the Apollo 16 lunar landing mission, leaps from the lunar surface as he salutes the United States flag at the Descartes landing site during the first Apollo 16 extravehicular activity (EVA). Astronaut Charles M. Duke Jr., lunar module pilot, took this picture. The Lunar Module (LM) "Orion" is on the left. The Lunar Roving Vehicle (LRV) is parked beside the LM. The object behind Young (in the shade of the LM) is the Far Ultraviolet Camera/Spectrograph (FUC/S). Stone Mountain dominates the background in this lunar scene. While astronauts Young and Duke descended in the LM to explore the Descartes highlands landing site on the moon, astronaut Thomas K. Mattingly II, command module pilot, remained with the Command and Service Modules (CSM) "Casper" in lunar orbit.
Literature
LIFE, 12 May 1972, pp. 6-7
The View from Space: American Astronaut Photography, 1962-1972, Schick and Van Haaften, pp. 116-117
Spacecam: Photographing the Final Frontier from Apollo to Hubble, Hope, p. 32
Apollo: Through the Eyes of the Astronauts, Jacobs, p. 109
A Man on the Moon, Chaikin, pp. 140-141
One of the most iconic images from the surface of the Moon. Despite his spacesuit and personal weight, Apollo 16 Commander John Young jumps to a height of 0.42 metres (16½ inches), demonstrating how the Moon's gravity reduces his effective weight to roughly one-sixth of its Earth value. In this frame, all elements-the flag, the Lunar Module Orion, the Lunar Rover, the UV astronomy camera, the rolling slopes of Stone Mountain in the background, and the astronaut himself-come together in perfect compositional harmony.
Reflecting on the moment years later, Young noted: "This shows the advantage of lunar gravity. I weighed, with my suit and backpack, about 360 Earth pounds, but only 60 pounds (30 kg) in the 1/6 gravity of the Moon. The 'jumping salute' photo is one of my favorite pictures, as it shows how nice it will be to live and work on the Moon." - John Young (Jacobs, p. 109)