Journal Home Page Apollo 11 Journal A Brief History of AS11-40-5903 Commentary Copyright © 2005 by Eric M. Jones.

All rights reserved.

Last revised 9 December 2005. Cover of NASA SP-350, Apollo Expeditions to the Moon (1975)

The simple answer is that when Neil took the original photograph, AS11-40-5903, the top of Buzz's OPS was at the top edge of the field-of-view and, therefore, that the original image necessarily does not include the antenna. When the image was prepared for release for publication soon after the mission, it was cropped at the bottom and sides, and a black area was added at the top to give the released version visual balance.

Scan from original film of AS11-40-5903.

Buzz's OPS antenna is out of the field-of-view.

Comparision of release version of 5903 (left), 5904 scanned from original film, showing the grid of reseau crosses (center); and a scan from original film of 5903. The images are scaled to give the same spacing of reseau crosses. The rows of crosses have been aligned.

(Click on the image for a larger version.)

Gatefold presentation of AS11-40-5903 in the August 8, 1969 issue of Life Magazine.

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NASA Headquarters release 69-HC-684