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Danny Robb @inverting-vision.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

Hassan's book is also where I got the first glimpses of the workers who actually performed the excavation. He gives us some insights into the involvement, thoughts and feelings of the local community, but this is something I'll need to look into more if I turn this into an essay of some kind.

black and white photograph. A pyramid looms in the background, in the foreground workers with carts are lined up beneath a hill of sand. caption reads "The field of excavation looking west. note fan0like layers of track rails."

A group of men in white robes stand on a hillside. caption reads "Men working on the clearance of mud deposits north side of the sphinx."

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Danny Robb @inverting-vision.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

This aerial photograph from a 1930s KLM flight shows the general area, and a completely excavated Sphinx. I would guess its before 1936, since I see what I think are some of the Baraize retaining walls. id.rijksmuseum.nl/200596063

An aerial view of the sphinx and the surrounding area, showing it clear of sand. the entire body of the sphinx is now visible, including the back right rear paw. the concrete collar is present, and what the author of this caption thinks is the wall near the sphinx's front left leg

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Danny Robb @inverting-vision.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

Hassan began his own work in 1936, and wasn't happy about those walls: Demolition of the walls "was one of our most laborious tasks when it became necessary to remove them in 1936-1937. I believe M. Baraize had taken his inspiration from the monuments of the Old Kingdom and built for eternity."

Black and white photograph of some tiered walls, and some scattered stones. caption read "Fig. 10 -- The eastern protective wall built by M. Baraize."

Black and white photograph, showing the sphinx and the excavated area around it. the ruins of a temple sit in the foreground. caption reads "Fig 34. -- the temple of amenhotep II with head and forequarters of the sphinx."

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Danny Robb @inverting-vision.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

A concrete collar was added sometime between 1926 and 1931. Baraize also erected walls to keep the sand from erasing his work. You can see the walls and the degree of the Baraize excavation in this photo by the Agence Meurisse. BnF dates it 1926, could put collar early in that time-frame?

a front-on view of the sphinx. both legs and paws are completely exposed, and the whole area is dug out in a rectangle. the stele is complete visible. the area below the headdress is now filled in with concrete supports. a tiered wall sits quite close to the sphinx's left paw.

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Danny Robb @inverting-vision.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

In 1925, Baraize began a new round of excavations, clearing lots of the sand, and revealing most of the Sphinx. You can also see the results, and some serious restoration work happening in photographs from 1925/26:

black and white photograph, the scaffolded sphinx from a more frontward angle. people in the foreground.

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Danny Robb @inverting-vision.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

Dittrich was mainly active in Cairo starting in 1894, and you can see remnants of Maspero's work. Stele is partially exposed in Dittrich, but less so than in the 1905 shot, and moreso than in this 1915 photograph by Georgoulas. It shows Australian military officers posing in front of the Sphinx.

black and white photograph, taken from near the base of the chest of the sphinx. two soldiers in uniform sit on horses, which are standing where the front right paw of the sphinx would probably be, but there is just stand. the stele is not visible at all.

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Danny Robb @inverting-vision.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

Then there's this photograph by Paul Dittrich. Date in NYPL is listed as 1860-1929, a hilariously long timeframe, but sensible given the timeline of excavation. Seen 1860s estimates, and version on wiki that says it was taken before 1886, but my guess is that it's actually between 1905 and 1915.

Black and white photograph. A view of the Sphinx from the front. It looks similar to the photos from the 1860s and 70s, in that it is most just the top of the sphinx with some of the chest bared. the author of this caption believes that he sees evidence of maspero's work to the left on sphinx, where you can seen a curved rim of sand, and a crater-like slope below it, similar in shape to the pattern seen in previous photos. what he thinks is the very top of the stele is just barely visible above the sand. big pyramid in the background.

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Danny Robb @inverting-vision.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

My upper bound for Bonfils photos comes from this Wehrli photo, dated 1905. If that date is correct, it makes it seem like sand encroached considerably since the Spalding visit. The fact that the Dream Stele is still visible indicates definitely post-Maspero, and slightly after Bonfils.

black and white photograph. the sphinx sits to the left, and sand has clearly engulfed more of it. the very top of the stele is visible above the sand, and the legs are hidden behind a hill, if they are visible at all. some people and camels stand at the sphinx's chest, their feet are now nearly above the stele. a couple people with animals standin the foreground of the picture, and a large pyramid looms on the right. Large handwritten captions read "Cairo Ghizeh Sphinx ... Chefren-Pyramide. ... Marthat Wehrli... cd. 1905"

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Danny Robb @inverting-vision.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

Maison Bonfils actually has another photo of the Sphinx from what looks like the exact same time. It is also from almost the exact same angle as the Facchinelli photo, which gives us a good comparison.

A black and white photograph taken from in front of the sphinx. the right paw and a portion of the left are visible, as is the stele between them. there is maybe slightly more sand between the paws. A number of people stand on the paws, between them, and on the ground near the right shoulder. some are sitting on the left shoulder. one person dressed in white is standing right on top of the sphinx's head.

A view from the front left of the sphinx, framed almost identically to the other picture. a person stands with a camel on the sphinx's right leg, along with another person. a third person stands next to the sphinx's chest.

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Danny Robb @inverting-vision.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

Then there's this photo by the Maison Bonfils, probably one of the most famous of partial excavation. I've seen dating from 1860s-70s. But the Béchard pic is likely from 70s, and shows it mostly buried. Based on coverage of the stele, I would actually put this somewhere between 1890 and 1905.

black and white photograph, processed. a view from in front and to the right of the sphinx. it dramatically shows the partial excavation, providing a great view of the right front leg, where a man sits with a camel standing. lots of sand has fallen down from the sphinx's left side, and has halfway covered the stele. two people sit between the legs near the chest, one in black and one in white. two pyramids loom large on the horizon on either side.

The same shot as the other one, but unprocessed. it has a blemish on the left side, and has a caption in french that reads "le sphynx apres les deblaiements et les deux grandes pyramides." a signature in the bottom right reads "Bonfils"

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Danny Robb @inverting-vision.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

This Facchinelli photo was taken around that time frame, maybe a few years after the Spalding photo, based on the fact that the Dream Stele is slightly more covered by sand. Had trouble finding histories of excavation. Selim Hassan's 1953 book was helpful: giza.fas.harvard.edu/pubdocs/244/...

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Danny Robb @inverting-vision.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

Gaston Maspero did next major excavation, which began in late 1885. Work was abandoned by 1888. Strangely, one of the most firm dates I found on a photo was this one, of the Spalding World Tour baseball team, which visited in 1889. This gives us a look as Maspero's work just after it finished.

A black and white photograph, taken from just in front of the sphinx. the front left leg and paw, and a portion of the right are visible. a large rectangular stele is clearly visible between the legs, an area that is largely clear of sand. a large number of people stand on and around the sphinx, many are in baseball uniforms.

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Danny Robb @inverting-vision.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

Caviglia uncovered the Dream Stele, originally placed during excavation in 1401 BCE(!). Auguste Mariette studied Sphinx in 1853, did some limited excavation. One of the next firm photo dates is from Second Japanese Embassy to Europe, 1864 (left). Photo by Béchard (right) is likely 1870s.

Black and white photograph. The sphinx can be seen, facing off to the left, with a small part of the top of the body above the sand. two people stand in front, and another sits on the sand. two people are sitting on the left shoulder of the sphinx. a pyramid can be seen on the horizon to the right of the sphinx's head.

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Danny Robb @inverting-vision.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

Couldn't find a good photo sequence, so decided to create one. But many photos didn't have precise dates in wiki OR archives, and some dates seemed off. Sent me on a journey. First modern excavation started in 1817 by Caviglia. We might see remains of his work in du Camp photo (date is reliable).

Black and white illustration on yellowed paper. The sphinx looms large on the left, with a pyramid in the background on the right. The chest of the Sphix is bared, and its left paw is just emerging from the sand. At the base of the chest is the regtangular stele, with writing on it. Workers are all around on the sloping hills, carrying material out. The caption on the bottom reads "A sketch of the sphinx of captain caviglia's excavations. April 1817."

Black and white photograph from 1849, the same from the previous post. The Sphinx is in the foreground, with its chest bared out of the sand. the rest of it is still submerged. in the background to the left of the head, two pyramids stand on the horizon.

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Danny Robb @inverting-vision.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

As photography emerged, Egypt and the pyramids were a popular subject. Cool side effect - we get to see the Great Sphinx of Giza as it was being excavated. 🗃️🧵 For centuries it had been just a head sticking above the sand. Left: 1822 illustration Right: photo by Maxime du Camp, 1849

Black and white illustration from 1922. The neck and head of the sphinx rises out of the foreground sand on the left of the image. two people stand in the shadow near the neck, and three others stand farther away in the shadow. one is pointing up at the sphinx. The pyramids are seen beyond a rise in the background, on the right. The title above the image reads "Pyramides de memphis" and the caption below reads "vue due sphinx et de la grande pyramide. prise du sud-est."

Black and white photograph from 1849. The Sphinx is in the foreground, with its chest bared out of the sand. the rest of it is still submerged. in the background to the left of the head, two pyramids stand on the horizon.

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Danny Robb @inverting-vision.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

You can really see the exhaustion in his eyes. Every time I see this photo, I'm reminded of the portraits Herbert Ponting took of the Terra Nova support crew returning from the Barrier. Antarctica, 1911-12. Cecil Meares, Apsley Cherry-Garrard, and Bernard Day.

Black and white photograph, Cecil Meares, member of Scott's Terra Nova expedition, stares into the camera. he is wearing a cap, and sunblocking goggles pushed up onto his forehead. He has a ragged full beard.

Black and white photograph, Apsley Cherry-Garrard, member of Scott's Terra Nova expedition, stares into the camera. His nose is severely damaged by the cold. he is wearing a thick cap, and has a thin beard and a scarf.

Black and white photograph, Bernard Day, member of Scott's Terra Nova expedition, stares into the camera. he has medium length hair that is wild and pushed up, and a short beard. he is wearing a knitted top with two safety pins and a row of button at his chest.

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Danny Robb @inverting-vision.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

NASA officials in the early 60s thought scientists got too presumptuous when giving advice to the agency. To the scientists, however, a lot was at stake. 🗃️ invertingvision.com/2026/09/15/t...

Porter speculated about why the scientists would have approached the proceedings in this way: “…many individual scientists feel responsibile(sic), in a curious kind of way, for NASA; they feel that the society at large may hold them responsible as a group for the operations of science in space, as they feel that the society at large holds science responsible for the atomic bomb and the things that followed it.”36

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Danny Robb @inverting-vision.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

"Bathyteuthis abyssicola, Hoyle (Pl. XXIX. Figs 1-7)...Southern Ocean, between Marion Island and the Crozets, December 30, 1873...1600 fathoms; diatom ooze."

black and white illustration. in the center, two large illustrations show a squid, the top one in an orientation similar to that on the previous image. Below that, a look toward the beak with arms splayed to the sides. around it are details of both that squid and some others. caption reads "1-7 Bathyteuthis Abyssicola...8-10 Mastigoteuthis Agassizii...11. Enoploteuthis Margaritifera."

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Danny Robb @inverting-vision.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

"Loligo edulis, Hoyle...Yokohama, Japan. Purchased in the market."

black and white illustration. in the middle, a lar figure of a squid, with arms and tentacles at the top, mantle and fins toward the bottom. Surrounding it are insets showing various details. caption reads "Loligo Edulis"

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Danny Robb @inverting-vision.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

"Sepia smithi, Hoyle...Arafura Sea, south of Papua, September 10, 1874...28 fathoms; green mud."

Black and white illustration. in the middle, two top-down views of cuttlefish. Around them, numerous insets showing details of their anatomy. caption reads "1-12 Sepia Smithi, 13-23 Sepia Papuensis"

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Danny Robb @inverting-vision.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

"Japatella prismatica, Hoyle (Pl IX. figs 1, 2)...Rio San Francisco, Brazil, September 12, 1873...770 fathoms; red mud. One specimen, probably [male]." "The Body is of gelatinous consistency and semitransparent...with...a prominent ridge, which gives the body a prismatic form."

Black and white illustration. 13 figures, showing 5 different octopus from various angles and with various details.

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Danny Robb @inverting-vision.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

"Octopus verrucosus, Hoyle...Inaccessible Island, Tristan da Cunha, October 16, 1873." "The Coulour is a dull purplish grey, very dark above, much lighter below."

Black and white illustration. An octopus from a side-on view, with arms splayed all around, and great detail on the scukers. head oriented toward bottom of image, where there are some insets showing detailed features. caption reads "octopus verrucosus"

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Danny Robb @inverting-vision.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

"The figures of the animals have been drawn upon the stone under my supervision by Messrs. J Reekie and A. Pollock, to whom I am indebted for the pains they have taken to carry out my wishes." "Octopus levis, Hoyle...Heard Island, Southern, Ocean, February 7, 1874." archive.org/details/repo...

Black and white illustration, a top-down view of an octopus, with arms splayed out on all sides. Insets show features and another octopus from a side-on view. Caption reads "1-4, Octopus levis, 5. octopus bermudensis"

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Danny Robb @inverting-vision.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

For #InverteFest, another 🧵 of illustrations from the HMS Challenger expedition (1872-76). From William Evans Hoyle's account of the Cephalapoda specimens the crew brought back. "Octopus boscii...Station 163A, off Twofold Bay, Australia, April 4, 1874...150 fathoms; green mud." #histsci 🗃️ #sciart

Black and white illustration of an octopus, side-on with arms at the top. Four insets show detailed features and texture. Caption reads "Octopus Boscii var Pallida, nov"

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Danny Robb @inverting-vision.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

"The weather while we were at the Falklands was generally cold and boisterous...[we] made a pretty fair account of the submarine inhabitants of our immediate neighborhood...there were great numbers of an elegant little cucumber-shaped sea-slug" p 186

$black and white illustration. a sea cucumber, with its mouth and tentacles splayed out near the top of the image. many branching parts, almost fractal-like, are spread out from the tentacles. caption reads "Fig 38 - cladodactyla crocea, Lesson. Stanley Harbor, Falkland Islands. Natural size."$

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Danny Robb @inverting-vision.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

"The trawling was comparatively successful at this station, most of the invertebrate groups being more or less represented. Several living specimens were procued of a pretty little coral, Fungia symmetrica (Fig 33), allied generically to the mushroom corals..." p 132

black and white illustration. a circular, largely symmetrical coral from a top-down angle, and from a side angle. straight patterns radiate out from the center, crossed by concentric circular patterns. caption reads "Fig 33 - Fungia symmetrica, Pourtales. Three times the natural size. (No. 133)"

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Danny Robb @inverting-vision.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

"The haul, as usual in such moderate depths, produced a large number of diverse invertebrates...Among the special prizes...a single example of a fine undescribed species of the genus Pentacrinus..." From part 2. archive.org/details/voya...

black and white illustration. a crinoid or sea lily, with long arms leading up to feathered ends. near the bottom, a tangleed holdfast. caption read "fig 31 - Pentacrinus maclearanus, Wyville thomson. Slightly enlarged. (no 122)

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Danny Robb @inverting-vision.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

"Willemoesia crucifer certainly differs widely in general appearance from the recent Astacidae...It has a very close resemblance to some fossil forms, particularly to the various species of the genus Eryon." p 242

Black and white illustration, a lobster with a wide carapace and thin claws. caption reads "Fig 59 - Willemoesia crucifer, Von Willemoes-Suhm, x 2 (no 23)."

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Danny Robb @inverting-vision.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

"Warped in the hempen tangles there was a fine specimen of a handsome decapod crustacean, having all the principal characters of the family Astacidae, but different from the typical decapods in the total absence of eye-stalks and eyes." p 181

Black and white illustration. A lobster with long spindly claws. caption reads "Fig 42 - Willemoiesia Leptodactyla, Von Willemoes-Suhm. Natural size (no 13)"

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Danny Robb @inverting-vision.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

"The mouth-papillae are short and blunt, about twelve on each angle of the mouth; the teeth are six or eight in number on each angle, and rather long and pointed." p 371 Quotes from Charles Wyville Thomson. archive.org/details/voya...

black and white illustration. a closeup of the starfish above, showing the other side. caption reads "Fig 105 - ophioglypha bullata, Whyville thomson. oral aspect. five times the natural size (No 54).

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Danny Robb @inverting-vision.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

For #InverteFest, a 🧵 of some of my favorite illustrations from the HMS Challenger expedition (1872-1876). First from the preliminary account, most by expedition artist JJ Wild. "Ophioglypha bullata is a species of great interest on account of its wide distribution at extreme depths." #histsci 🗃️🌊

black and white illustration. A figure of a starfish with long curvy arms. caption reads Fig 104 - ophioglypha bullata, Wyville Thomson. Dorsal aspect. Three times the natural size (no. 54)

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Danny Robb @inverting-vision.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

The images were a big success for NASA. The Soviet Union had racked up a lot of "firsts" in lunar exploration before this, and the spectacular visual here certainly helped the agency. It was the very first "Earthrise" humanity ever saw, in staggering resolution thanks to clever engineering. (12/12)

A black and white photo of a group of NASA officials sitting together behind a desk on a stage. In front of them is a large print of the first earthrise image. To their right is a man standing at a podium

A black and white photo of Ann Kilgore, mayor of Hampton, Virginia, stands next to a large print of the earthrise image, while a man points to the earth.

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Danny Robb @inverting-vision.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

Once they had the 35mm film, they could reconstruct full frames. This could be done manually at Madrid and Woomera. Here's a shot I found of the manual reconstruction process in that same tracking and data contractor report. (11/12)

Black and white photo. A man stands facing a light board. He is holding up a strip of trimmed 35mm flim next to other stuck onto the light board. Together, they make an image of a field of lunar craters.

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Danny Robb @inverting-vision.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

Here's another angle on the camera, where you can see the lens pointing at the kinescope tube. Also, a closeup of the inner workings of the camera itself. I found this in some archival footage, and it's the best look I've seen of the GRE camera. (10/12) www.youtube.com/watch?v=wEnR...

Color photo. Another shot of the GRE. A man opens up the door on the GRE camera, and you can see the lens pointing into a black space on the main GRE equipment

Color photo. A closeup of the GRE camera looping system seen in the diagram

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Danny Robb @inverting-vision.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

The machines in the middle used the signal to display an image on a kinescope tube. This was then captured on the 35mm film by the GRE camera seen in the right in the image above. Here are some diagrams showing the inner workings of that camera. (9/12)

A diagram labeled "geometry of kinetube-line image production." showing a kinescope tube on the left, with an arrow labeled "direction of spot travel." on the right is a vertical film strip with various labels showing types of framelets.

A diagram of the camera system for the GRE. The main image lens is on the lieft. The supply pack is the large film reel on the upper left, the takeup pack on the upper right. The film travels down through rollers and near the lens, time channel, filter balance adjustment, and number channel, before being route up to the takeup back. the camera system sits on a large base with dials.

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Danny Robb @inverting-vision.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

Full readout was planned for end of the mission, but they could do "near-real-time" reconstruction manually mid-mission. Late on August 25, the LO team initiated readout for Earth imagery, and signals arrived in Madrid. This signal was fed into the Ground Reconstruction Electronics (GRE) (8/12)

Black and white photo. Two men work at large pieces of equiment. there is a small rectangular piece of equipment on the left with numerous dials. the man in front of it is wearing a coat that reads "Lunar Orbiter" on the back. He is touching dials on that peice of equipment, and the large fridge-sized equipment in the middle of the image. To the right is a camera with two large circular film reels at the top. Another man is looking through something where that camera meets the piece of equipment in the center.

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Danny Robb @inverting-vision.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

Here's a cool shot of the 85-foot dish in Woomera, seen in a contractor report on data and tracking on Lunar Orbiter. Here's a link if you're interested in the nitty gritty details: ntrs.nasa.gov/citations/19... (7/12)

Black and white photo. A large radio antenna in Woomera australia is illuminated in the darkness. it is pointing to th left.

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Danny Robb @inverting-vision.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

Once the images were taken, an elaborate reconstruction process started. The first step was to send signals back to the Deep Space Instrumentation Facilities on Earth in Goldstone, California, Madrid, Spain, and Woomera, Australia. (6/12)

A man showing various "operational ground facilities" across the earth. There are arrows from the DSIF stations in Woomera, Johannesburg, Kennedy, Pasadena, Madrid, and Goldstone connected to facilities on the East Coast of the United States. There are Langley, Virginia, RCA-New Jersey, Rocheser NY, Lewis Ohio.

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Danny Robb @inverting-vision.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

The pics of the Earth almost didn’t happen. Boeing engineers raised the idea, but their manager feared losing $ if something went wrong. LO's main goal was to find landing sites for Apollo, and plan was to image certain target areas. But NASA officials were enthusiastic and convinced him. (5/12)

A diagram labeled "spacecraft maneuvers." At the top is an illustration showing the earth, the moon, and the position of the spacecraft in orbit at the time of the photo, a long with its line of sight to earth. Below that is an illustraion showing the orientation of the spacecraft, and its field of view. the field of view illustration roughly corresponds to the image of earth

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Danny Robb @inverting-vision.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

Exposed 70mm film was pressed against Kodak’s “Bimat” film, which developed and fixed the image. A scanner shot an electron beam through the film, density variations were captured on the other side of the film, and translated into signals that were sent back to Earth for reconstruction. (4/12)

A complex diagram shows the inner workings of the camera in a vertical schematic form. At the bottom, a 80mm lens and a 610mm lens route images through folding mirrors to the film coming out of the film supply. It loops through rollers to a processor and dryer, which is connected to the bimat takeup and bimat supply. Then it goes up to the composite video to communications subsystem, then to film takeup and storage.

A diagram labeled "readout subsystem schematic." It shows 70mm film in the middle of the diagram, with an arrow showing film travel during readout. On one side of the flim, a line-scan tube is firing a beam, which reflects off of a cylindrical drum, and travels through a scanner lens and through the film. Where the beam meets the film, there are horizontal lines showing the line-scan pattern that creates a "framelet." On the other side of the film, the beam travels through light collector optics then enters a photomultiplier tube. this is connected to a video amplifier, which has an arrow pointing to a label that reads "video signal to transmitter."

A complex diagram showing "photographic data acquisiation, reconstruction, and assembly." At the top left is an illustration of a cratered moon, with squares showing what a pair of lenses are looking at. Behind the lenses is a simplified version of the camera system diagram. There are arrows pointing from the photomultiplier to boxes going down the image labeled video amp, transmitter, s/c antenna, then lighting bolts going to the lower left box, labeled deep space instrumentation facility. there are illustrations in this box of the antennat, the receiver going to a kindescope, and a camera facing the kinescope. and arrow goes up from the camera to a circle labeled "film record," which has an arrow going right to another box labeled "lunar data processing laboratory Eastman Kodak, Rochester, NY." A diagram shows rectangles laid side by side labeled 35mm film strips, going into reassembly. This shows a camera pointing down, and the images being recorded on 9 1/2 inch film. An illustration of that film shows lunar craters, and an arrow points from that film to text reading "To NASA Langley."

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Danny Robb @inverting-vision.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

Below, you can see the camera that made it happen, and the Lunar Orbiter spacecraft that carried the camera along with a handful of other scientific instruments. The camera was originally created by Kodak for a classified Air Force surveillance satellite program called SAMOS. (3/12)

Black and white photo. A group of four men stand behind the lunar orbiter camera in suits, all looking at the camera. it is a large metallic device with two lenses, one bigger, one smaller, pointed off to the right. It sits in a metal "bathtub," which was fully enclose on the spacecraft for thermal protection.

Color photo. A man to the right of the image works on the Lunar Orbiter spacecraft. You can see the full camera assembly in the middle of the image, with the two camera lenses. Below the camera assembly you can see the four roughly square solar panels. To the left is the antenna, and above the camera are squat cylindrical fuel tanks and a rocket nozzle pointing upward.

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Danny Robb @inverting-vision.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

First, a slightly higher res version. You probably notice the stripes across the image. What you're seeing are strips of 35mm film stuck together. (2/12) Also, if you prefer, there's a version of this story with full footnotes and image sources on my website: invertingvision.com/2026/08/23/c...

Black and white photo. Essentially the same image from the newspaper headline, but in higher resolution, and oriented where the Earth is at the top of the image, and the moon is at the bottom. The much higher resolution allows you to see detail in the clouds on the Earth, and the craters on the Moon. The (now vertical) stripes are still very apparent.

Black and white photo. A long strip of 35mm film is looped around to form vertical stripes. You can still see the perforations along the sides of the film, as this is showing the technique by which the reconstruction was made. The image created by lining the film up side by side shows a field of lunar craters.

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Danny Robb @inverting-vision.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

On August 26, 1966, readers of the NYT woke up to the first photo of the Earth from the Moon on the front page. Here's a thread about how the Lunar Orbiter team retrieved it from film on a spacecraft orbiting the Moon, showing the reconstruction process back on Earth. 🧵(1/12) 🗃️🔭 #photography

A screenshot of a headline and image from a newspaper. The image is fairly low quality, but shows a crescent earth to the left, suspended in blackness, next to the limb of the moon taking up most of the right side of the image. Across the image are horizontal stripes. The headline at the top reads "How the Earth Looks from the Moon". The caption reads "Photo taken by Lunar Orbiter when it was 27 miles from moon, right, shows the earth covered by a white cloud. horizontal orientation lines were added to the picture after it was received at a tracking station near Madrid"

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Danny Robb @inverting-vision.bsky.social · 15/08/2026

And another picture from the press conference. Lee Scherer, Langley project manager for Lunar Orbiter, sits in the middle of the table third from left. Source: archive.org/details/1966...

A large room, with people sitting in folding chairs in the foreground. They are facing a stage, where six men sit at a table next to a gigantic lunar globe. Off the stage to the right is a model of the Lunar Orbiter spacecraft.

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Danny Robb @inverting-vision.bsky.social · 15/08/2026

One of my favorite pictures showing the scale of the Lunar Orbiter spacecraft. From an August 1966 press conference at JPL. Source: archive.org/details/1966... My history of the camera system: invertingvision.com/2026/08/10/k...

On the right, the Lunar Orbiter spacecraft looms large. At the top are small fuel tanks and a rocket engine bell pointing upwards. Below, in the middle of the spacecraft is a broad conical open section, containing a large camera. Below the camera compartment are four solar panels. Standing next to the spacecraft is a man with a buzz cut and a lab coat, standing next to a woman and pointing at the camera. In the background is another woman standing next to a gigantic lunar globe.

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Danny Robb @inverting-vision.bsky.social · 11/04/2026

NASA officials had to convince Boeing reps to take Earthrise pic in orbit. Boeing was afraid if something went wrong, wouldn't get paid. LOII pic of Copernicus at oblique angle made it into Life magazine in December 1966. (2/2) LOI: www.lpi.usra.edu/resources/lu... LOII: svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/30128

A black-and-white photograph, the first "Earthrise" picture, taken by Lunar orbiter 1. A crescent Earth sits just above the cratered grey curve of the lunar surface. Edge data from the Kodak film can be seen at the bottom of the image, and artifacts from the in-orbit development process.

A black-and-white photograph of the lunar crater Copernicus, seen from an extremely oblique angle. The central peak of Copernicus can be seen in the center, looking like large mountains, while the multi-layered crater walls loom behind them.

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Danny Robb @inverting-vision.bsky.social · 10/04/2026

Eugene shoemaker wrote "The Moon Close Up," explaining Ranger in 1964. Feb 1969 issue came with a giant, comprehensive lunar map based on LO photos. (2/2)

An issue of National Geographic opened to the title page for an article called "The Moon Close Up" by Eugene M Shoemaker, chief, astro geology branch, u. S. Geological survey. A picture of the catered lunar surface taken by ranger 7 spans both pages.

A giant national geographic map showing the nearside of the Moon on the left, and the far side of the Moon on the right. It is titled "the earth's moon" and has lots of diagrams and captions surrouning the maps. An issue of National Geographic is opened on top of the map to a foldout of an image from lunar orbiter. The title overlaying the image reads "Awesome views of the forbidding moonscape."

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Danny Robb @inverting-vision.bsky.social · 10/04/2026

Someone left a cart of National Geographic mags at my work for people to take home. I went straight to the 60s. Apollo came with a vinyl record called "Sounds of the Space Age." (1/2)

The front cover of National Geographic in december 1969. It features a picture of buzz aldrin in his spacesuit on the lunar surface. The title text reads: "the first explorers on the moon, the incredible story of Apollo in five parts"

An open page of the December 1969 nat geo edition. On the left, the title reads "Sounds of the space age, a record narrated by frank borman. There is a picture of Nixon meeting the Apollo astronauts, who are in the mobile quarantine facility. Covering the page in the right is a small vinyl record, titled sounds of the space age. In the center is an illustration of Neil Armstrong stepping off the ladder onto the lunar surface.

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Danny Robb @inverting-vision.bsky.social · 10/04/2026

Love it! I've always liked the medium resolution version too: www.lpi.usra.edu/resources/lu... Lunar Orbiter IV also got an interesting shot: bsky.app/profile/inve...

The large curve of the moons surface takesup the left half of the image, with many craters on the far side visible. Crater tsiolkovsky is a large dark patch on an otherwise bright lunar surface, with a small bright island that is its central peak. A small half-earth sits above the lunar horizon.

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Danny Robb @inverting-vision.bsky.social · 10/04/2026

Here are impact diagrams for Ranger 8 (left) and LOII (right). (3/5) More details: LO: ntrs.nasa.gov/citations/19... Ranger: www.lpi.usra.edu/resources/ra...

A black-and-white globe, annotated with information about Ranger VIII impact. A line shows the "Hyperbolic Encounter Trajectory," and squares on the lunar surface show areas caught by the camera.

A black and white diagram showing Lunar Orbiter "Orbit Geometry for Terminal Transfer Maneuver." The maneuver was executed at apolune, and created an impact angle that looks shallower than the Ranger angle.

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