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Lot 258
[Apollo 11] BUZZ ALDRIN DEPLOYING THE FIRST SCIENTIFIC SITE ON THE MOON Neil Armstrong, 16-24 July 1969
14 – 28 April 2025, 12:00 CEST
Paris, Avenue HocheSold for €1,280 inc. premium
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[Apollo 11] BUZZ ALDRIN DEPLOYING THE FIRST SCIENTIFIC SITE ON THE MOON
Neil Armstrong, 16-24 July 1969
Printed 1969.
Vintage chromogenic print on fibre-based Kodak paper [NASA image AS11-40-5945].
Numbered "NASA AS11-40-5945" in red in the top margin, with "A Kodak Paper" watermark on the reverse (issued by NASA Manned Spacecraft Centre, Houston, Texas).
20.3 x 25.4 cm. (8 x 10 in.)
Historical context
Science on another world begins.
This powerful image, framed against the barren, airless expanse of the Moon, captures Buzz Aldrin in the process of deploying humanity's first scientific research station on another world—the Early Apollo Scientific Experiments Package (EASEP)—at Tranquillity Base. Aldrin had just placed the Laser Ranging Retroreflector (LRRR) on the surface, seen to his right, and was turning to his left to find a suitable location for the Passive Seismic Experiment (PSE).
The immense isolation of the lunar landscape is accentuated by the deep black sky and the long shadow cast by Aldrin.
Beyond a mission of exploration, Apollo 11 was a scientific endeavour, and this moment marks the first time humanity placed instruments on another world to expand our understanding of the cosmos.
Printed 1969.
Vintage chromogenic print on fibre-based Kodak paper [NASA image AS11-40-5945].
Numbered "NASA AS11-40-5945" in red in the top margin, with "A Kodak Paper" watermark on the reverse (issued by NASA Manned Spacecraft Centre, Houston, Texas).
20.3 x 25.4 cm. (8 x 10 in.)
Historical context
Science on another world begins.
This powerful image, framed against the barren, airless expanse of the Moon, captures Buzz Aldrin in the process of deploying humanity's first scientific research station on another world—the Early Apollo Scientific Experiments Package (EASEP)—at Tranquillity Base. Aldrin had just placed the Laser Ranging Retroreflector (LRRR) on the surface, seen to his right, and was turning to his left to find a suitable location for the Passive Seismic Experiment (PSE).
The immense isolation of the lunar landscape is accentuated by the deep black sky and the long shadow cast by Aldrin.
Beyond a mission of exploration, Apollo 11 was a scientific endeavour, and this moment marks the first time humanity placed instruments on another world to expand our understanding of the cosmos.
Footnotes
Aldrin positioned the LRRR approximately 14 meters south-southwest of the Lunar Module Eagle, while the seismometer was set up slightly farther away, at 19 meters from the LM, ensuring that the instruments would not be disturbed by the ascent stage exhaust when the astronauts lifted off to return to Columbia in lunar orbit.
From the mission transcript when the photograph was taken:
110:59:03 Aldrin: Okay; how about I put the LR cubed right about here?
110:59:07 Armstrong: All right. (Pause) Right about...
110:59:12 Aldrin: I'm going to have to get on the other side of this rock here. (Pause)
110:59:19 Armstrong: I would go right around that crater to the left there. Isn't that a level spot there?
110:59:25 Aldrin: I think this right here is just as level.
110:59:28 Armstrong: Okay.
Literature
Moon: Man's Greatest Adventure, Thomas, ed., p.217
Apollo: Through the Eyes of the Astronauts, Jacobs, p.58
Watch more
CLICK HERE: Apollo 11 Moonwalk Part 3 of 4