Moonscape--1950's Style!
Scriven Bolten's plaster model,
appearing on page 79 of The Complete Book of
Outer Space,
portrays the lunar surface as a rugged, mountainous place of
stark contrasts. This view of
the moon, so typical of science fiction art from the 1950's, does
not correspond well with the flat,
featureless moonscapes revealed by most of the Apollo lunar
exploration images. But there is
still the possibility that certain locations on the moon could
look like this model! The Apollo
mission sites were selected specifically for their lack of rugged
terrain in order to minimize
the chance of a rough landing. Future exploration may reveal
scenes just as dramatic as
the one shown above.