Buzz Aldrin

360° panoramic sequence of the Tranquillity Base landing site

Apollo 11, July 16-24, 1969, 110:43:50 GET

Ten unreleased photographs, USGS (United States Geological Survey) vintage gelatin silver “proof” prints on fiber-based paper, each 20.3 x 25.4cm (8 x 10in), numbered between “AS11-40-5905 and AS11-40-5916” in margin, with original USGS marks and numbers on the prints identifying lunar rocks at Tranquility Base
20.3 x 25.4cm (8 x 10in)

Paris, Galeries nationales du Grand Palais, La Lune: Du Voyage Réel aux Voyages Imaginaires, April-July 2019; exhibition catalogue, pp. 26-27, no. 20, illustrated.

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Lot Essay

In order to provide views of their surroundings in context, the moonwalkers intentionally took series of slightly overlapping pictures, such as these series by Buzz Aldrin, which could be pasted together into panoramas for later study by geologists and researchers.

Taken just a few meters north of the LM near the rim of a shallow crater, this is the second of Aldrin’s two panoramic sequences (originally shot on color film) as requested per checklist sewn on the wrist cover of his glove.

The LM Eagle, the back and legs of Neil Armstrong (who passed in front of the camera during the panoramic sequence), the Solar Wind Collector, the American flag, the TV cable, Buzz Aldrin’s shadow, the lunar surface TV camera and the shallow crater are visible (left to right).

110:43:18 Aldrin: (Garbled) get the panorama (garbled)
110:43:20 Armstrong: Okay. (Pause) Got it (the Hasselblad)?
110:43:33 Aldrin: Okay, got it.
110:43:50 Aldrin: Houston, how does our timeline appear to be going?
110:43:55 McCandless: Roger. It looks like you’re about a half hour slow on it. We’re working on consumables. Over.

“The most dramatic recollections I have now are the sights themselves, those magnificent visual images. They go far beyond any other visual experiences I’ve had in my life.”
Neil Armstrong (Life Magazine, August 22, 1969, p. 25)

“Get the panorama.”
Buzz Aldrin