The Apollo Command Modules for Apollo 15, Apollo 16, and Apollo 17 were equipped with the Apollo Scientific Instrument Module (SIM) Bay Cameras, including the 24-inch-focal-length optical bar panoramic camera produced by the Itek Optical Systems Division of Lexington, Massachusetts.
The cameras took photos of lunar landscape as the CSM circled the moon. The film was exposed in lunar orbit, and retrieved by the space-walking command module pilot during the coast back to Earth. The space walk of Apollo 15 CM pilot Al Worden to retrieve film was conducted more than 200,000 miles away from the earth, a world record. The first generation film canisters were returned to Earth and copies made. The original first generation flown canisters are now at NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston in cold storage.
These films are marked 2nd generation (which is the master used by NASA to create prints and other negatives/positives). The labels state that they are “Master Direct Negative” and/or “Master Direct POS”. Each frame measures approximately four feet long and 9 inches wide and each canister contains 30+ frames.
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