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Lot 240
[Apollo 11] DESOLATE LUNAR FARSIDE HORIZON SEEN DURING THE SPACECRAFT'S FIRST ORBIT Buzz Aldrin, Michael Collins, or Neil Armstrong, 16-24 July 1969
14 – 28 April 2025, 12:00 CEST
Paris, Avenue HocheSold for €1,024 inc. premium
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[Apollo 11] DESOLATE LUNAR FARSIDE HORIZON SEEN DURING THE SPACECRAFT'S FIRST ORBIT
Buzz Aldrin, Michael Collins, or Neil Armstrong, 16-24 July 1969
Printed 1969.
Vintage gelatin silver print on fibre-based paper [NASA image AS11-42-6248].
Numbered "NASA AS11-42-6248" in black in the top margin (issued by NASA Manned Spacecraft Centre, Houston, Texas).
24 x 20.3 cm. (9,5 x 8 in.)
Historical context
Into the unknown—Apollo 11's first look at the lunar farside.
This extremely rare Apollo 11 photograph captures the rugged, heavily cratered terrain of the far side lunar highlands near Crater Crookes (1° S / 163° W). Taken at the end of the crew's first orbit around the Moon, the stark landscape is bathed in dramatic sunlight, casting long shadows that emphasize its depth and complexity.
Beyond its scientific value, this image embodies the new perspectives Apollo 11 provided on lunar history, revealing a surface sculpted by cosmic forces on an unimaginable timescale. It also underscores the significance of human space exploration, bringing back views of a world never before seen by human eyes.
"The Moon I have known all my life, that two-dimensional small yellow disk in the sky, has gone away somewhere, to be replaced by the most awesome sphere I have ever seen. To begin with it is huge, completely filling our window. Second, it is three-dimensional. The belly of it bulges out toward us in such a pronounced fashion that I almost feel I can reach out and touch it."
—Michael Collins (NASA SP-350, p. 207)
Printed 1969.
Vintage gelatin silver print on fibre-based paper [NASA image AS11-42-6248].
Numbered "NASA AS11-42-6248" in black in the top margin (issued by NASA Manned Spacecraft Centre, Houston, Texas).
24 x 20.3 cm. (9,5 x 8 in.)
Historical context
Into the unknown—Apollo 11's first look at the lunar farside.
This extremely rare Apollo 11 photograph captures the rugged, heavily cratered terrain of the far side lunar highlands near Crater Crookes (1° S / 163° W). Taken at the end of the crew's first orbit around the Moon, the stark landscape is bathed in dramatic sunlight, casting long shadows that emphasize its depth and complexity.
Beyond its scientific value, this image embodies the new perspectives Apollo 11 provided on lunar history, revealing a surface sculpted by cosmic forces on an unimaginable timescale. It also underscores the significance of human space exploration, bringing back views of a world never before seen by human eyes.
"The Moon I have known all my life, that two-dimensional small yellow disk in the sky, has gone away somewhere, to be replaced by the most awesome sphere I have ever seen. To begin with it is huge, completely filling our window. Second, it is three-dimensional. The belly of it bulges out toward us in such a pronounced fashion that I almost feel I can reach out and touch it."
—Michael Collins (NASA SP-350, p. 207)
Footnotes
Shot through the 80mm lens of the Hasselblad 500 EL using B&W magazine 42/U, this unpublished image offers a rare glimpse of the Moon's hidden hemisphere, permanently turned away from Earth due to its synchronous rotation. Magazine 42/U was only used in the CSM Columbia while in lunar orbit. The vast majority of the pictures were not released by NASA.