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Lot 433
[Apollo 17] PORTRAIT OF EUGENE CERNAN, THE LAST MAN ON THE MOON, WITH EARTH ABOVE THE ROVER'S ANTENNA Harrison Schmitt, 7-19 December 1972, EVA 3
14 – 28 April 2025, 12:00 CEST
Paris, Avenue HocheSold for €1,152 inc. premium
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[Apollo 17] PORTRAIT OF EUGENE CERNAN, THE LAST MAN ON THE MOON, WITH EARTH ABOVE THE ROVER'S ANTENNA
Harrison Schmitt, 7-19 December 1972, EVA 3
Printed 1972.
Vintage chromogenic print on fibre-based Kodak paper [NASA image AS17-134-20473].
With "A Kodak Paper" watermark on the reverse, numbered "NASA AS17-134-20473" 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
A human on another world, with Earth in the sky.
One of the very few Apollo photographs capturing a human being standing on another celestial body with his home planet in the background, this image holds profound philosophical significance—a symbol of humanity's greatest leap in exploration.
Apollo 17 remains the only mission to bring back such images, showing an astronaut on the Moon framed by the distant Earth. This extraordinary shot was taken by Harrison Schmitt after he borrowed Eugene Cernan's camera for a series of "tourist" photos near the Lunar Module (see mission transcript). The Earth hangs in the black lunar sky, floating above Cernan and the high-gain antenna of the Lunar Rover, which is pointed at Earth to transmit live television footage. The Rover's front wheel is visible in the foreground, while the towering South Massif rises in the background.
"There you were, standing on the surface of the Moon in full sunlight, looking at the Earth, a quarter million miles away, surrounded by the blackest black. Not darkness, but the blackest black a human being can conceive in his mind. I think the perception that the Earth looks bigger than it really is probably comes from the majesty of its colours and from the fact that you are there on the Moon, looking back at it. It's an overpowering figure of life in the sky."
—Eugene Cernan (ALSJ mission transcript, 143:20:14 GET)
This image is more than a photograph—it is a moment in history that captures the essence of Apollo: the ability and courage to leave Earth, to explore new frontiers, and to look back at our fragile home from an alien world.
Printed 1972.
Vintage chromogenic print on fibre-based Kodak paper [NASA image AS17-134-20473].
With "A Kodak Paper" watermark on the reverse, numbered "NASA AS17-134-20473" 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
A human on another world, with Earth in the sky.
One of the very few Apollo photographs capturing a human being standing on another celestial body with his home planet in the background, this image holds profound philosophical significance—a symbol of humanity's greatest leap in exploration.
Apollo 17 remains the only mission to bring back such images, showing an astronaut on the Moon framed by the distant Earth. This extraordinary shot was taken by Harrison Schmitt after he borrowed Eugene Cernan's camera for a series of "tourist" photos near the Lunar Module (see mission transcript). The Earth hangs in the black lunar sky, floating above Cernan and the high-gain antenna of the Lunar Rover, which is pointed at Earth to transmit live television footage. The Rover's front wheel is visible in the foreground, while the towering South Massif rises in the background.
"There you were, standing on the surface of the Moon in full sunlight, looking at the Earth, a quarter million miles away, surrounded by the blackest black. Not darkness, but the blackest black a human being can conceive in his mind. I think the perception that the Earth looks bigger than it really is probably comes from the majesty of its colours and from the fact that you are there on the Moon, looking back at it. It's an overpowering figure of life in the sky."
—Eugene Cernan (ALSJ mission transcript, 143:20:14 GET)
This image is more than a photograph—it is a moment in history that captures the essence of Apollo: the ability and courage to leave Earth, to explore new frontiers, and to look back at our fragile home from an alien world.
Footnotes
From the mission transcript (photograph taken at T+169:39:41 after launch):
169:39:17 Cernan: (To Schmitt) That's (the) colour (camera). (Pause) Why don't you see if you can grab a couple (of tourist pictures)? Yeah, right here.
169:39:34 Schmitt: Boy, are you dirty.
169:39:34 Cernan: I know it.
169:39:38 Schmitt: Let's see. I don't know whether I can get you (with the Earth).
169:39:41 Cernan: Yeah, you can.