Accession No
6098
Brief Description
13-inch lunar (Moon) Globe based on Luna 3 (aka Lunik 3) observations, by Paul Räth, Leipzig, East German, 1961 (c)
Origin
East Germany [now Germany]; Leipzig
Maker
Räth, Paul
Class
astronomy
Earliest Date
1960
Latest Date
1965
Inscription Date
Material
Plastic (bakelite); Paper; Wood; Metal
Dimensions
41.9cm high, 33cm wide
Special Collection
Provenance
Purchased from Christie’s South Kensington, 85 Old Brompton Road, London, SW7 3LD, from sale of Scientific and Medical Works of Art, 25/10/2006.
Inscription
RATHS MONDGLOBUS. Die Namen der Formationen auf der von der Erde aus unsichtbaten Seite des Mondes sind durch farbigen (roten) Druck hervogehoben. Das Kartenmaterial wurde com Min. f. Volksbildung der UdSSR zur Verfugung gestellt Verlag: Paul Rath Nachf. KG., Leipzig Druck: VEB Hermann Haack, Gotha Mdl der DDR nr. 8340/63 Druckerei Lizenz Nr. K 4/57. Other inscriptions include place and area names
Description Notes
13-inch lunar (Moon) Globe based on Luna 3 (aka Lunik 3) observations, by Paul Räth, Leipzig, East German, c. 1961.
The Globe is made up of 12 chromolithographed gores and two polar calottes showing topography in shades of green on a yellow ground with place and area names and information about Russian exploration. For example, a location is given to the landing of the Luna 2 (aka Lunik 2) Russian probe on the moon in 1959.
Some mapping of the ‘dark’ far side of the moon is included, with about a third left blank. The globe is therefore based on the first atlas of the far side of the Moon, published by the USSR Academy of Sciences on November 6, 1960. This atlas was based on the first ever images of the far side sent back by the Luna 3 probe in October 1959.
The globe is raised on a bakelite foot.
Condition: good; complete
References
Events
Description
Starting in the 1950s, Cold War opponents the United States and the Soviet Union engaged in a heated Space Race for dominance in the field of space exploration. The Moon was a coveted prize for both sides. The initial race to the Earth’s closest neighbour was won by the Soviets, whose Luna 3 craft became the first man-made object to orbit the Moon in October 1959. Fitted with a camera, the Soviet craft was able to transmit back to Earth the first ever images of the far side of the Moon. Although of poor quality, these images enabled the Soviets to publish the first ever maps of the previously unseen far surface, a significant victory over the United States. This globe, by the globe-maker Paul Räth of Leipzig (then part of Soviet East Germany) was made shortly after the Soviet maps were published, making it one of the first globes ever produced to show features on the Moon’s far side. At the time of Lunik 3’s orbital pass, only 70% of the Moon’s dark side was illuminated by the sun. As a result, two of the globes twelve gores remain blank as this region could not be photographed.
14/01/2014
Created by: Allison Ksiazkiewicz on 14/01/2014
FM:46567
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