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Oblique view of the lunar surface taken from Apollo 8 spacecraft
This oblique view of the lunar surface was taken from the Apollo 8 spacecraft looking southward across the farside crater Tsiolkovsky which is centered near 129 degrees east longitude and 21 degrees south latitude. The flat floor of Tsiolkovsky is much darker than the surrounding lunar surface. It is darker than most of the mare material observed by the Apollo 8 crew. The dark material is about 125 kilometers (80 statute miles) across measured from the near-to far-side contsets in this view. The central peak, which stands as an "island" within the dark material, is about 40 kilometers (25 statute miles) long. High sun angle at the time of this photograph accentuates the contrast between light and dark material. The only boulders observed by the Apollo 8 crew had rolled from the light-colored peak onto the dark, smooth surface near the right hand end of the peak.
Catalog Date: 24 December 1968
Film Type: 70mm BW
NASA image: AS08-13-2252