NASA S-70-46645: Apollo 12 Rock Sample Photograph: red-numbered with watermark of "A KODAK PAPER"

NASA, Manned Space Center, 1970, red-numbered S-70-46645 on KODAK paper (watermark of "A KODAK PAPER", only manufactured until the early 1970s). The color image is of a cross-section of the rock sample 12017 collected during the Apollo 12 mission. Condition is Excellent with only slight curl at the right edge of the paper, and hint of wear at bottom corners. Sample 12017 is Pigeonite Basalt which has a complex gardening history on the lunar surface, with a glass splash (from meteorite impact) of c. 9000 years and a crystallization age of c. 3.2 billion years ago, roughly 500 million years later than the Apollo 11 basalts. Basalts are dark-colored rocks solidified from molten lava. They are a common type of volcanic rock on Earth and are found in places such as Hawai'i. Apollo 12 (November 14 – 24, 1969) was the sixth crewed flight in the United States Apollo program and the second to land on the Moon. It was launched on November 14, 1969, from the Kennedy Space Center, Florida. Commander Charles "Pete" Conrad and Lunar Module Pilot Alan L. Bean performed just over one day and seven hours of lunar surface activity while Command Module Pilot Richard F. Gordon remained in lunar orbit. Apollo 12 would have attempted the first lunar landing had Apollo 11 failed, but after the success of Neil Armstrong's mission, Apollo 12 was postponed by two months, and other Apollo missions also put on a more relaxed schedule. More time was allotted for geologic training in preparation for Apollo 12 than for Apollo 11, Conrad and Bean making several geology field trips in preparation for their mission. The goals of Apollo 12 focused on science, including investigating the lunar surface environment, emplacing the first Apollo Lunar Surface Experiments Package (ALSEP), obtaining samples from a second lunar mare and enhancing the capability for human lunar exploration. The crew deployed the instrument package. They collected more than 75 pounds (34 kilograms) of samples, photographed the surface, investigated soil mechanics, collected samples of the solar wind and retrieved parts of the robotic Surveyor 3 spacecraft that had landed previously. This item is believed to have originated from the estate of the NASA scientist Jack Ramsey. Rare item - not a publicity shot. This was originally a purely scientific image, but the curious artifacts and settings now suggest an innocent age and transform it into a piece of art.