{"id":1787370,"date":"2019-05-22T19:42:12","date_gmt":"2019-05-22T23:42:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/?p=1787370"},"modified":"2019-05-22T19:42:12","modified_gmt":"2019-05-22T23:42:12","slug":"lunar-cartography-during-the-age-of-apollo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2019\/05\/lunar-cartography-during-the-age-of-apollo\/","title":{"rendered":"Lunar Cartography During the Age of Apollo"},"content":{"rendered":"

Writing for Crosscut<\/em>, Tom Reese memorializes his father<\/a>, who worked as a cartographer and engineer for NASA’s Aeronautical Chart and Information Center during the Apollo program. Harlan Reese left behind a collection of maps, photos and charts in his garage which, Tom says, still contains “mesmerizing detail and mystery”:<\/p>\n

One box has odds and ends of early lunar photography, some of the prints overlain with Dad\u2019s hand-drawn compass points, landing site X’s and handwritten notations. The images were made through large telescopes on Earth, by the Surveyors and Rangers and Lunar Orbiters and early Apollos flying around and over the most promising landing sites. You can also see those smudged fingerprints that likely belong to Dad, mixed with those of many others who used magnifiers and X-Acto knives to carefully slice apart select sections of crater fields. Some small globs of cracked glue remain where they dripped during the process of pasting together the cut pieces to form mosaics of the unexplored landscape.<\/p>\n

Some small indentations probably show how the prints were positioned in viewing devices like the extremely precise optical comparator, which helped human eyes interpret the length of shadows inside craters for the first time. These results were coordinated with data about altitude and lunar daylight to provide the most precise terrain measurements possible. Careful airbrushing would smooth over and fill in terra incognita with educated guessing. Finally, this data would be transformed into the precisely printed maps and charts that would help lunar lander pilots to, among other things, second-guess in real time the navigation decisions made by computers of the late 1960s and early 1970s.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Below, a Target of Opprtunity Flight Chart<\/a> for the Apollo 11 mission:<\/p>\n

\"Apollo<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Writing for Crosscut, Tom Reese memorializes his father, who worked as a cartographer and engineer for NASA’s Aeronautical Chart and Information Center during the Apollo program. Harlan Reese left behind a collection of maps, photos… More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"link","meta":{"autoblue_enabled":true,"autoblue_custom_message":"","autoblue_shares":[],"autoblue_post_url":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[1343,1342,63,12,1344],"class_list":["post-1787370","post","type-post","status-publish","format-link","hentry","category-astronomy","tag-apollo-11","tag-apollo-program","tag-moon","tag-nasa","tag-spaceflight","post_format-post-format-link"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1787540,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2019\/08\/lunar-geology-and-the-apollo-program\/","url_meta":{"origin":1787370,"position":0},"title":"Lunar Geology and the Apollo Program","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"1 August 2019","format":"link","excerpt":"Planetary geologist David Rothery writes about the early attempts to map the Moon's geology, both before and after the Apollo program. There was a symbiotic relationship between the map and the mission: maps suggested where landings might be most profitable from a geological perspective; and field work by the astronauts\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Astronomy"","block_context":{"text":"Astronomy","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/astronomy\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Geologic Map of the Copernicus Quadrangle of the Moon","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/copernicus-geologic-1024x830.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/copernicus-geologic-1024x830.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/copernicus-geologic-1024x830.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/copernicus-geologic-1024x830.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":5968,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2015\/02\/map-anniversaries\/","url_meta":{"origin":1787370,"position":1},"title":"Map Anniversaries","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"10 February 2015","format":"link","excerpt":"Google Maps turned 10 years old on Sunday\u2014a milestone observed by Samuel Gibbs in the Guardian. See also Liz Gannes's retrospective at Re\/Code. My reaction on launch day was pretty effusive\u2014I was blown away mainly by the user interface. But it wasn't immediately dominant: it took roughly four years for\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Industry"","block_context":{"text":"Industry","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/industry\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1787636,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2019\/08\/mapping-the-moon-in-black-and-white\/","url_meta":{"origin":1787370,"position":2},"title":"Mapping the Moon in Black and White","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"22 August 2019","format":"link","excerpt":"Mapping the Moon in Black and White, an exhibition curated by the Harvard Map Collection at Harvard\u2019s Pusey Library, \u201cguides you through the mutually reinforcing efforts to map the Moon using orbital imagery and the race to walk on the Moon. At \u2018Mapping the Moon in Black and White,\u2019 you\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Astronomy"","block_context":{"text":"Astronomy","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/astronomy\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1788310,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2020\/01\/unified-geologic-map-of-the-moon\/","url_meta":{"origin":1787370,"position":3},"title":"Unified Geologic Map of the Moon","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"31 January 2020","format":"link","excerpt":"A new unified geologic map of the Moon, based on digital renovations that updated 1970s-era geologic maps to match more recent topographic and image data gathered by lunar orbiters, was released by the USGS last month. The map is \u201ca seamless, globally consistent, 1:5,000,000-scale geologic map\u201d; the paper version (25\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Astronomy"","block_context":{"text":"Astronomy","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/astronomy\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/unified-geologic-map-moon-1024x768.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/unified-geologic-map-moon-1024x768.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/unified-geologic-map-moon-1024x768.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/unified-geologic-map-moon-1024x768.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1787453,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2019\/06\/many-moon-maps\/","url_meta":{"origin":1787370,"position":4},"title":"Many Moon Maps","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"21 June 2019","format":"link","excerpt":"With the 50th anniversary of Apollo 11 almost upon us, there's been an uptick in moon-related content, which includes moon-related map content. For example: New Exhibition. Opening today at The Map House in London, The Mapping of the Moon: 1669-1969, an exhibition of three centuries of lunar cartography. \"The exhibition\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Antique Maps"","block_context":{"text":"Antique Maps","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/antique-maps\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/national-geographic-moon.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/national-geographic-moon.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/national-geographic-moon.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/national-geographic-moon.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1787347,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2019\/05\/the-ordnance-survey-releases-a-moon-map\/","url_meta":{"origin":1787370,"position":5},"title":"The Ordnance Survey Releases a Moon Map","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"15 May 2019","format":"link","excerpt":"To commemorate the 50th anniversary of the first crewed landing on the Moon, the Ordnance Survey has released a map of the Apollo 11 landing site. The map is based on a 60-metre digital elevation model and covers a roughly 1,350\u00d71,000 km swath of the near side at a scale\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Astronomy"","block_context":{"text":"Astronomy","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/astronomy\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Map of The Moon: 50th Anniversary Edition Map","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/os-moon-apollo-11.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/os-moon-apollo-11.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/os-moon-apollo-11.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/os-moon-apollo-11.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1787370","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1787370"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1787370\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1787374,"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1787370\/revisions\/1787374"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1787370"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1787370"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1787370"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}