Image Size - 15 1/4 x 23
Paper Size - 21 x 26

Apollo 16 astronauts John Young and Charlie Duke have just arrived on the rim of North Ray crater. John reported, "As we climbed the rim to North Ray it was really a steep slope going right up on the edge of the rim. Of course, the old Rover didn't notice it - just went right up." Charlie continued, "The slope must be on the order of 20 degrees - you don't realize it 'til you get off and turn around." As they looked around they could see the rim was populated with rocks of all sizes and shapes. These rocks had been thrown up and out when a large meteorite impacted the moon's surface over three billion years ago. The resulting hole in North Ray crater."

I painted John on the left selecting tools for the traverse while Charlie is moving the Hasselblad camera with the 500mm telephoto lens from beneath the seat. Charlie would later report, "We did take 500mm photos of the interior of the crater. I couldn't see the bottom and I wasn't going to get close enough to see in because there was no way I could have gotten out if I had fallen in." North Ray was the largest crater, 300 feet in diameter, and possibly the deepest crater, directly explored in the Apollo program.

- Alan Bean