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Lot 142
[ATS III] THE FIRST SELFIE OF HUMANITY: historic color photograph of Planet Earth's full disk NASA, 18 November 1967
14 – 28 April 2025, 12:00 CEST
Paris, Avenue HocheSold for €3,840 inc. premium
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[ATS III] THE FIRST SELFIE OF HUMANITY: historic color photograph of Planet Earth's full disk
NASA, 18 November 1967
Printed 1967.
Vintage chromogenic print on fibre-based Kodak paper.
With "Sylvania Electronic Systems" credit stamp and "A Kodak Paper" watermark on the reverse (issued by NASA / Sylvania). (Sylvania Electronic Systems was one of NASA's main contractors for the ATS III satellite).
20.3 x 25.4 cm. (8 x 10 in.)
Historical context
A milestone in the history of photography.
This magnificent full-disk photograph of Earth, transmitted in high resolution and full colour by the ATS-3 satellite, can be considered one of humanity's first true self-portraits—forever reshaping our perception of our place in the cosmos.
Captured on November 18, 1967, from the first series of ATS-3 full Earth transmissions, this landmark image was chosen as the frontispiece of NASA's 1968 publication Exploring Space with a Camera, edited by NASA Langley Director Edgar Cortright. Suspended against the black void, Earth appears as a delicate, luminous sphere, revealing North and South America, West Africa, Europe, and Antarctica beneath swirling clouds. More than just a scientific achievement, this image marked a new era of self-awareness.
24 Apollo astronauts (1968–1972) were later the only humans to witness and photograph Earth as a finite celestial body in space, with Apollo 17 in December 1972 capturing the famous "Blue Marble," the only such fully sunlit Earth image taken by humans.
Printed 1967.
Vintage chromogenic print on fibre-based Kodak paper.
With "Sylvania Electronic Systems" credit stamp and "A Kodak Paper" watermark on the reverse (issued by NASA / Sylvania). (Sylvania Electronic Systems was one of NASA's main contractors for the ATS III satellite).
20.3 x 25.4 cm. (8 x 10 in.)
Historical context
A milestone in the history of photography.
This magnificent full-disk photograph of Earth, transmitted in high resolution and full colour by the ATS-3 satellite, can be considered one of humanity's first true self-portraits—forever reshaping our perception of our place in the cosmos.
Captured on November 18, 1967, from the first series of ATS-3 full Earth transmissions, this landmark image was chosen as the frontispiece of NASA's 1968 publication Exploring Space with a Camera, edited by NASA Langley Director Edgar Cortright. Suspended against the black void, Earth appears as a delicate, luminous sphere, revealing North and South America, West Africa, Europe, and Antarctica beneath swirling clouds. More than just a scientific achievement, this image marked a new era of self-awareness.
24 Apollo astronauts (1968–1972) were later the only humans to witness and photograph Earth as a finite celestial body in space, with Apollo 17 in December 1972 capturing the famous "Blue Marble," the only such fully sunlit Earth image taken by humans.
Footnotes
Launched on November 5, 1967, ATS-3 was equipped with a revolutionary Multicolour Spin-Scan Cloudcover Camera (MSSCC), designed by Dr. Verner Suomi, allowing it to capture the first high-quality full-colour images of Earth from geostationary orbit (22,300 miles/35,888 km). The first of these transmissions began on November 10, fulfilling the vision of astronomer Sir Fred Hoyle, who in 1948 predicted:
"Once a photograph of the Earth, taken from outside, is available—once the sheer isolation of the Earth becomes known—a new idea as powerful as any in history will be let loose."
Prior Full-Earth Imagery:
- ATS-1 (December 1966) provided the first detailed black-and-white photograph of the fully sunlit Earth using a "spin-scan cloud camera."
- DODGE (August 1967) from the U.S. Air Force captured colour images of the full Earth, but at crude, low resolution.
ATS-3 (November 1967) was the first to capture and transmit high-resolution full-colour images, setting a new standard. This unprecedented photograph, showcasing North and South America, West Africa, Europe, the southern part of the Greenland ice cap, and cloud-covered Antarctica, offered a breathtaking new perspective of our home planet.
Literature
Exploring space with a camera, Cortright, ed. (NASA SP-168), frontispiece
Additional information
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