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Lot 297
[Apollo 12] PETE CONRAD HOLDING THE U.S. FLAG ON THE OCEAN OF STORMS Alan Bean, 14-24 November 1969, EVA 1
14 – 28 April 2025, 12:00 CEST
Paris, Avenue HocheSold for €768 inc. premium
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[Apollo 12] PETE CONRAD HOLDING THE U.S. FLAG ON THE OCEAN OF STORMS
Alan Bean, 14-24 November 1969, EVA 1
Printed 1969.
Vintage chromogenic print on fibre-based Kodak paper [NASA image AS12-47-6897].
With NASA caption and "A Kodak Paper" watermark on the reverse, numbered "NASA AS12-47-6897" in red in the top margin (issued by NASA Manned Spacecraft Centre, Houston, Texas).
20.3 x 25.4 cm. (8 x 10 in.)
Historical context
This iconic photograph symbolizes human triumph on an alien world. After landing and securing their first lunar samples, Apollo 12 astronauts proudly raised the second American flag at the Ocean of Storms and took this "tourist" picture (see mission transcript). The stark lunar landscape, bathed in sunlight, frames the long shadow of the Lunar Module Intrepid, adding a dramatic contrast to the scene.
"You can see that I was holding the flag up. Because, if you look at the rest of the pictures [of the mission], it hangs straight down, because the little pin up broke."
—Pete Conrad (from the ALSJ mission transcript at 116:20:22 GET)
Printed 1969.
Vintage chromogenic print on fibre-based Kodak paper [NASA image AS12-47-6897].
With NASA caption and "A Kodak Paper" watermark on the reverse, numbered "NASA AS12-47-6897" in red in the top margin (issued by NASA Manned Spacecraft Centre, Houston, Texas).
20.3 x 25.4 cm. (8 x 10 in.)
Historical context
This iconic photograph symbolizes human triumph on an alien world. After landing and securing their first lunar samples, Apollo 12 astronauts proudly raised the second American flag at the Ocean of Storms and took this "tourist" picture (see mission transcript). The stark lunar landscape, bathed in sunlight, frames the long shadow of the Lunar Module Intrepid, adding a dramatic contrast to the scene.
"You can see that I was holding the flag up. Because, if you look at the rest of the pictures [of the mission], it hangs straight down, because the little pin up broke."
—Pete Conrad (from the ALSJ mission transcript at 116:20:22 GET)
Footnotes
From the mission transcript (photograph taken at T+116:21:05 after launch):
116:19:48 Conrad: Okay. We have the flag up. Like I said, hope everybody down there is as proud of it as we are to put it up. (Pause)
116:20:02 Gibson (Mission Control): That's affirmative, Pete. And we're proud of what you're doing. (Pause)
116:20:20 Conrad: Can we have a quickie (tourist photo) here?
116:20:22 Bean: Okay. (Pause)
116:20:34 Conrad: Back up a little more... to about 15 feet.
116:20:40 Conrad: Easy. You're getting into the TV cable!
116:20:43 Bean: Nope, I just went right over it, babe. Here you are. Take a look, Pete.
116:20:48 Conrad: I can't see you (because Bean is standing up-Sun). (Pause) Get it?
116:20:57 Bean: Sure did.
116:21:05 Conrad: Wait one. (Pause) Okay.
116:21:17 Bean: Got you.
Literature
Apollo: Through the Eyes of the Astronauts, Jacobs, cover and p. 74
Spacecam, Hope, p. 24
Watch more
CLICK HERE: Apollo 12 - Pinpoint For Science (1970)