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[Soviet View of Far Side of the Moon]

Publisher TASS (Telegraph Agency of the Soviet Union) Russian, founded 1902
Publisher United Press International American
1959
Not on view
Although blurry and heavily retouched, this photograph, released by the Soviet wire service TASS and published around the globe, represents a groundbreaking moment in the history of lunar imagery. In October 1959 the USSR launched Luna 3, a small spacecraft equipped with a dual-lens 35 mm camera and an onboard image-processing system and scanner. The mission objective was to capture and transmit the first photographs of the far side of the moon. The images it beamed back revealed a terrain starkly different from the near side: rugged and densely cratered, with only two visible maria (respectively dubbed the Sea of Moscow and the Sea of Dreams).

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: [Soviet View of Far Side of the Moon]
  • Publisher: TASS (Telegraph Agency of the Soviet Union)
  • Publisher: United Press International (American)
  • Date: 1959
  • Medium: Gelatin silver print
  • Dimensions: Image: 6 13/16 × 6 5/8 in. (17.3 × 16.9 cm)
    Sheet (approx.): 8 1/2 in. × 11 in. (21.6 × 27.9 cm)
  • Classification: Photographs
  • Credit Line: Gift of Mary and Dan Solomon, 2016
  • Object Number: 2016.796.1
  • Curatorial Department: Photographs

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