Apollo 17 Station 6 panorama

Presented by Rapid Lightning

Explore the
Apollo 17 Station 6
Boulder in 3D.

Using 50-year-old NASA photos,
RL Create3D revealed a new dimension.

Explore the 3D Model

Understanding the Site

The Apollo 17 Station 6 Boulder was studied by astronauts Eugene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt during the mission’s Taurus-Littrow surface traverses. The boulder is documented in the Apollo 17 photographic and geological record, including NASA image AS17-146-22294.

This feature presents a 3D reconstruction of the Station 6 Boulder 1 explored by the Apollo 17 astronauts on December 12, 1972. This reconstruction is comprised of 42 images from NASA's public archives (AS17-140-21441 through AS17-140-21482). During preparation, a single gamma correction was applied to the entire set which restored color values already present in the 50-year-old original 70mm Hasselblad photos.

The 1 mm Reseau Marks (the X's found in the image) were etched in the lens of the Hasselblad cameras to use for relative scale. Many reconstructions attempt to remove them because they can interfere with the photogrammetry build. However, RL Create3D resolved them without issue and they are visible across the entirety of the 3D build.

Apollo 17 astronaut exploring the boulders of Station 6 beside the Lunar Roving Vehicle; NASA image AS17-146-22294
NASA Apollo 17 photograph AS17-146-22294, showing an astronaut exploring the boulders of Station 6 beside the Lunar Roving Vehicle.

Built with RL Create3D

This is what RL Create3D was built to do.

RL Create3D took 42 NASA 70mm Hasselblad photographs of the Apollo 17 Station 6 boulder and carried them through reconstruction, texturing, export, and presentation as a self-hosted browser exhibit.

At close range, the model retains the details that make the source record meaningful: the Apollo 17 boot print at the base of Boulder 1, the lighter freshly exposed rock beside the darker surface patina, and the Hasselblad Reseau Marks across the build.

Other 3D work on the Station 6 Boulder

A side-by-side look at
two published reconstructions.

The LPG-3D team published its Boulder 1 model in the 2020 study Investigating Lunar Boulders at the Apollo 17 Landing Site Using Photogrammetry and Virtual Reality. Apollo 17 geologist and astronaut Harrison H. Schmitt was a co-author. The paper credits him with validation and image resources. Schmitt personally worked at Station 6 during the mission.

LPG-3D and Rapid Lightning each reconstructed Boulder 1 from the same 42 Apollo photographs. Compare the results below.

RL Create3D reconstruction from the 42-image Apollo sequence, 2026
Published LPG-3D research model — Le Mouélic et al., 2020
View the LPG-3D model on Sketchfab → Read the published study →

Source acknowledgement

With gratitude to the Apollo 17 archive.

NASA’s photography and mission documentation remain the historical record and the authority for scientific interpretation. This feature offers visitors a direct way to examine a reconstruction made from that public source material.

Visit NASA Apollo 17 →

The achievement

A demanding image set.
A finished 3D textured model.

RL Create3D carried the Apollo 17 source material through reconstruction, preview, and export to produce the model presented in this exhibit.

1972Apollo 17 mission
6Station 6
42NASA photographs
3Dbrowser exhibit

Photos in.
3D worlds out.