380 a
NASA / Unidentified Photographer

NASA officials receiving the treasures from the Moon

Apollo 11, July 25, 1969

Vintage chromogenic print on fiber-based Kodak paper, 20.3 x 25.4cm (8 x 10in), with NASA MSC caption and “A Kodak Paper” watermarks on the verso, numbered “NASA S-69-45483” (NASA MSC) in red in top margin

380 b
NASA / Unidentified Photographer

Scientists studying precious lunar rocks at the Lunar Receiving Laboratory

Apollo 11, September 1969

Vintage chromogenic print on fiber-based Kodak paper, 20.3 x 25.4cm (8 x 10in), with NASA MSC caption and “A Kodak Paper” watermarks on the verso, numbered “NASA S-69-44831” in red in top margin

380 c
Terry Slezak

Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins examining the photographic film taken during the historic mission

Apollo 11, August 1969

Vintage chromogenic print on fiber-based Kodak paper, 20.3 x 25.4cm (8 x 10in), with NASA MSC caption and “A Kodak Paper” watermarks on the verso, numbered “NASA S-69-45483” (NASA MSC) in red in top margin

380 d
NASA / Unidentified Photographer

Ticker tape parade for the Apollo 11 astronauts in New York City

August 13, 1969

Vintage gelatin silver print on fiber-based paper, 20.3 x 25.4cm (8 x 10in)
20.3 x 25.4cm (8 x 10in)

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Lot Essay

380 a
The first Apollo 11 sample return container, with photographic films and lunar surface material inside, arrived at Ellington Air Force Base in Houston by air from the Pacific recovery area. Then it was unloaded at the Lunar Receiving Laboratory, Building 37, Manned Spacecraft Center (MSC). Happily posing with the box are NASA officials including Eugene G. Edmonds of the MSC Photographic Technology Laboratory in charge of developing the precious film.

From the mission transcript during the homeward journey to Earth:

155:40:32 Armstrong: We know there’s a lot of scientists from a number of countries standing by to see the lunar samples. [...] These are the two boxes, and as soon as we get onto the ship, I’m sure these boxes will immediately be transferred and delivery started to the Lunar Receiving Laboratory. These boxes include the samples of the various types of rock, the ground mass of the soil, the sand and silt and the particle collector for the Solar Wind Experiment and the core tubes that took depth samples of the lunar surface.

380 b
“As soon as initial analysis of the Apollo 11 samples began, geologists across the world produced a blizzard of papers. Among the outstanding revelations was the extraordinary antiquity of the rocks. Dating of samples by measuring their radioisotopes was yielding dates that clustered around 3.6 billion years. [...] Another observation was that after studying every fragment, researchers found that about 4 per cent wasn’t the basalt that dominates the Mare Tranquillitatis landing site but a calcium-rich form of plagioclase called anorthosite. Its presence would lead to a profound story of the Moon’s creation, and by association, Earth’s early history” (from the AFJ mission transcript at 131:06:54 GET).

380 c
Terry Slezak was a NASA technician at the Photographic Technology Division (PTD). He took this photograph of the astronauts quarantined in the Crew Reception Area of the Lunar Receiving Laboratory at the Manned Spacecraft Center, Houston.

Collins remembered his crewmates had expressed cautious optimism on the voyage home that the images were something special; “Neil and Buzz were both saying, ‘We got some great pictures I hope, I hope.’” (Jacobs, p.15).

From the mission transcript during the homeward journey to Earth:

174:51:08 Collins: Houston, Apollo 11. A matter of curiosity. On our 70-mm cameras, we figure we exposed around 300 in the LM and around a thousand in the Command Module. And both cameras - or all the 70-mm cameras worked just fine.
174:51:26 McCandless (Mission Control): Okay. Very good. Thank you.

380 d
New York City welcomes Apollo 11 crewmen in a showering of ticker tape down Broadway and Park Avenue in a parade termed as the largest in the city’s history. Pictured in the lead car, from the right, are astronauts Neil Armstrong; Buzz Aldrin; and Michael Collins.