The best-known of George R. Carruthers's inventions is the Far-Ultraviolet Camera, which Apollo 16 astronauts took to the Moon in 1972 to observe the ultraviolet (UV) light from several important astronomical objects. The experiment consisted of a miniature observatory, which included a telescopic camera, an altazimuth mounting, a table, and a tripod--all of which weighed twenty-two kilograms. The electronographic camera used a cesium iodide cathode to display the UV light and a film cartridge to record it. The telescope aperture was three inches in diameter, and the design was that of a Schmidt telescope with a focal ratio of f/1. The small observatory was mounted in the shadow of the Apollo Lunar Module in order to avoid direct sunlight and to have proper thermal conditions.

The astronauts operated the telescope according to a carefully determined plan, having practiced with the device on Earth. However, the Lunar Module had landed on a slope, so that if the telescope were set up as planned, its mount would be tilted, making the preplanned pointings incorrect. A resourceful astronaut solved that problem by jamming one of the tripod legs deeply into the lunar soil, leveling the telescope successfully. The astronauts were scheduled to adjust the direction of the telescope periodically to point it toward different objects. The telescope-camera design allowed it to record both UV images and spectra. In the latter case, the UV light was spread out into its different wavelengths.

At the end of the mission, astronauts removed the film cartridge and brought it back to Earth. The telescope and camera were left on the Moon. This experiment had an important impact on both astronomy and geophysics. Most of the objects studied had never before been imaged in the ultraviolet part of the spectrum. With Carruthers's camera, the Earth's outer atmosphere and its hydrogen-glowing geocorona were seen in excellent perspective. The nearby stars were recorded, and it was possible to measure accurately the temperatures of very hot stars for the first time, as they emit most of their radiation in the ultraviolet. Radiation from intergalactic hydrogen was seen for the first time, and the structure of the Milky Way was revealed in a new way. Even other galaxies were targeted. One of the most spectacular images was one showing the Large Magellanic Cloud, a neighbor galaxy 170,000 light years away, which was revealed to be lit up like a Christmas tree by the many UV-emitting hot stars spread across its face.

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