Full Moon by Michael Light, introduction by Andrew Chaikin, Jonathan Cape,
拢35, ISBN 0224051288
Exploring the Moon by David Harland, Springer-Verlag, 拢24.50, ISBN
1852330996
When the first pictures of the Moon鈥檚 surface reached Earth, the world
gasped. Grey and grainy, they appeared in Western newspapers, lifted from faxes
sent by a Soviet Moon probe.
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When the Apollo astronauts snapped their Hasselblads, the world gasped again.
This time, the results were better, but not much. Aldrin鈥檚 bootprint crisply
outlined on the Moon鈥檚 surface, an astronaut鈥檚 reflection gleaming from the
visor of Alan Bean鈥檚 helmet, the crescent Earth seen from the Moon, Ed White
floating over the Gulf of Mexico on the first spacewalk鈥攅veryone had their
favourite image.
Even so, NASA thought it had something to add. It gave artist and
photographer Michael Light access to more than 900 master photographs. Many have
never been seen outside the archive, including the four used in this Moon
special.
And the agency was right. Light has used modern technology to clean up the
images. The results in Full Moon are astounding: sharp, brilliant pictures that
bring back the awe the Apollo missions evoked. Turn the pages and watch history
and technology turn into art.
A great fold-out reveals the shattered Moon surface, its emptiness and its
beauty. You may have seen it a thousand times, bolted into an ad to lend
otherworldliness, or as the background to a news item about NASA, but it still
has the power to move. Who will ever forget the plastic bag containing a family
photograph snapped lying on the Moon surface鈥攁 sweet gesture by an
astronaut who鈥檚 taken his family there in his imagination, Charlie Duke.
Definitely a book to buy or borrow.
If you want a bit more brainfood, try reading David Harland鈥檚 thorough
account of lunar science, Exploring the Moon: The Apollo Expeditions. He has
mixed astronauts鈥� words (and grey pictures) to concentrate on the final
landings鈥擜pollo 15, 16 and 17. Three-quarters of all the science took
place on these three-day missions. For example, the only geologist to make it to
the Moon, Jack Schmitt, searched for evidence of volcanic action within the past
100 million years using a seismic profiler to sample craters.
