Project
Isauro Mercado III
Award Winning Cinematographer/Photographer Isauro Mercado III holds the world record for most original photographs now archived on the moon. Cinematographer also was behind the camera for making of The 9th Raider movie, the first feature film archived on the moon.
On February 22, 2024, photographer and cinematographer Isauro Mercado III made space and film history by contributing a record setting number of photos and movie scenes he shot into the Lunaprise Museum, the first recognized art museum on the Moon. This time capsule, bolted to the Odysseus lunar lander, landed at the lunar south pole, the first U.S. landing there and the first since Apollo 17 in 1972. Prior to this record set by Isauro, only one photograph (from Apollo 17) existed on the lunar surface.
Mercado placed the most photographs on the moon in the Lunaprise archive, etched onto durable metal disks designed to last over a billion years. He also became the first cinematographer to have an entire film, “The Sci-Fi 9th Raider”, directed by Space Blue founder Dallas Santana, archived on these indestructible metal disks on the moon.
Isauro was there at the historic space rocket launch when the Space Blue payload launched via SpaceX Falcon 9 from Kennedy Space Center on February 15, 2024, carrying over 77,000 artifacts from 222 projects, curated by Space Blue, including art, music, films, and historical items.
Beyond this lunar milestone, Mercado is an award-winning photographer and network credited cinematographer known for his work on feature films, documentaries, and creative projects like “You Be The Change”, collaborations with leading artists, and contributions to sci-fi and cultural archives.
His award at the Luxury Gala held March 15th, 2026 celebrates and recognizes his achievement as the first cinematographer with a film and photography archive on the moon.
