On April 21, 1972, NASA astronaut John W. Young, commander of the Apollo 16 mission, took a far-ultraviolet photo of Earth. Ultraviolet cameras. Young’s original black-and-white photograph was printed three times on Agfacontour professional film, with each exposure recording only one light level. Three levels of light were then assigned to blue (dimest), green (next brightest) and red (brightest), resulting in the enhanced color image seen here.
Dr. George CarruthersA scientist at the Naval Research Laboratory developed an ultraviolet camera. The first observatory based on the Moon – for Apollo 16. Apollo 16 astronauts placed the observatory on the moon in April 1972, where it sits today on the moon’s Descartes ridge, in the shadow of the lunar module Orion.
Image credit: NASA