Draft:Lunar Panoramic Photography

Overview
The use of Panoramic Photography, although originally mandated by the available technology on the early landing probes, has continued to be a standard feature in the photographic coverage of subsequent missions to the Moon. Initially used to help determine the location of the lander they are also considered as essential for the establishment of context, thereby allowing the placement of tighter-focus shots to aid understanding.

Techniques
Two techniques have been utilised for the recording of these panoramas:-
 * 1) "Photometric scanning " - Achieved through the use of a revolving mirror, or the rotation of the camera itself, mounted on or within the bodies of automated landers - the resulting images are comprised of hundreds or thousands of individual scans
 * 2) "Stitched (or segmented) panoramas" - Achieved by blending images from full-frame photographs taken by the Apollo astronauts

The second of these also covers a variation, known as a "Rover Panorama", that was developed during the later Apollo missions that used the Lunar Roving Vehicle for astronaut transportation. A sequence of photos was taken by the seated passenger (always the Lunar Module Pilot/LMP) keeping the camera in a fixed position (typically on their chest mount) who then repeatedly took shots whilst the driver (always the Commander/CDR) drove the Rover in a tight circle. Such an approach made it much easier for the astronauts to take the component images but introduced inconsistencies because the location of those images kept shifting and they invariably included the Rover's own TV camera which blocked part of the panorama itself.

Quality
With the improvement with technology, notably in the form of digital imagery, the quality of lunar panoramas improved dramatically between the first panorama taken by Luna 9 in 1966 and the most recent by Chang'e 4  in 2022 (See Gallery below for both images). The difference between the "early digital" images from the pre-Apollo automated landers, and the large-format, full-frame, film used on Apollo is perhaps the most dramatic of those improvements, but even between the first and last Apollo landings (11 and 17) there is a marked improvement too.

Panoramas by misson

 * Pre-Apollo automated landers
 * Apollo manned missions
 * Post-Apollo automated landers