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Lot 9
[Apollo 11] THE ONLY PHOTOGRAPH OF NEIL ARMSTRONG ON THE MOON Buzz Aldrin, 16-24 July 1969
14 – 28 April 2025, 12:00 CEST
Paris, Avenue Hoche€18,000 - €25,000
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[Apollo 11] THE ONLY PHOTOGRAPH OF NEIL ARMSTRONG ON THE MOON
Buzz Aldrin, 16-24 July 1969
Printed 1969.
Vintage chromogenic print on fibre-based Kodak paper [NASA image AS11-40-5886].
Numbered "NASA AS11-40-5886" 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
A legendary rarity: the only photograph of Neil Armstrong on the Moon—a timeless and unique icon of the first man in history to step onto another world.
For nearly two decades, NASA believed that no photographs of Armstrong were taken on the lunar surface. As a result, this image was excluded from NASA's official selection and remained largely unknown to the public. Vintage prints of this photograph are extraordinarily rare.
"The problem was that NASA kept putting out that there weren't any pictures of me. Because they believed that. But they didn't know... I don't think they probably ever asked Buzz or I. As a matter of fact, I think a lot of them didn't know that you (Buzz) ever took pictures with the Hasselblad. I don't know why they wouldn't; because if they looked through the dialog where you made that statement (about taking the panorama), NASA wouldn't have made that (mistake)."
—Neil Armstrong (ALSJ mission transcript)
Printed 1969.
Vintage chromogenic print on fibre-based Kodak paper [NASA image AS11-40-5886].
Numbered "NASA AS11-40-5886" 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
A legendary rarity: the only photograph of Neil Armstrong on the Moon—a timeless and unique icon of the first man in history to step onto another world.
For nearly two decades, NASA believed that no photographs of Armstrong were taken on the lunar surface. As a result, this image was excluded from NASA's official selection and remained largely unknown to the public. Vintage prints of this photograph are extraordinarily rare.
"The problem was that NASA kept putting out that there weren't any pictures of me. Because they believed that. But they didn't know... I don't think they probably ever asked Buzz or I. As a matter of fact, I think a lot of them didn't know that you (Buzz) ever took pictures with the Hasselblad. I don't know why they wouldn't; because if they looked through the dialog where you made that statement (about taking the panorama), NASA wouldn't have made that (mistake)."
—Neil Armstrong (ALSJ mission transcript)
Footnotes
This historic photograph is a frame from a panoramic sequence taken by Buzz Aldrin from the rim of Double Crater, approximately 7 meters west of the Lunar Module (Eagle) ladder (plus-Z strut). Neil Armstrong is seen at the MESA (Modular Equipment Stowage Assembly), "packing the bulk sample with an open rock box on the MESA table" (ALSJ caption for AS11-40-5886). The image also features the American flag, the Solar Wind Collector, the Plus-Y (north) strut of the Lunar Module, and the shadow of Eagle in the foreground.
For years, it was thought that no Hasselblad still photographs of Neil Armstrong on the Moon existed. Only a few grainy images from the B&W Westinghouse TV camera and the 16mm Maurer colour motion picture camera were known. This misconception persisted until 1987, when two British researchers analysing Apollo 11 voice transcripts identified this photograph within Aldrin's panorama.
The error likely originated shortly after the mission when Brian Duff, NASA's Public Affairs Chief, asked Armstrong if he had handed the camera to Aldrin. Armstrong answered "no," as per the flight plan, he was required to place the camera on a lower bay of the LM for Aldrin to retrieve. NASA subsequently assumed that no photographs of Armstrong were taken on the lunar surface.
This photograph, unseen by the general public at the time, was not included in NASA's official selection. Its extraordinary significance only came to light decades later.
From the mission transcript (photograph taken at T+110:31:43 after launch):
110:31:28 Aldrin: (Garbled) panorama I'll be taking is about 30 to 40 feet out the plus (garbled)...
110:31:39 McCandless (Mission Control): Say again which strut, Buzz?
110:31:43 Aldrin: The plus-Z strut.
110:31:47 McCandless: Roger.
Literature
Apollo: Through the Eyes of the Astronauts, Robert Jacobs, ed., p. 60-61
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CLICK HERE: Apollo 11 Moonwalk Part 2 of 4
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