168 a
Taken by a camera aboard the Surveyor III Robot Spacecraft

First photograph of the Earth from the surface of the Moon

Surveyor III, April 30, 1967

Vintage gelatin silver print on fiber-based paper, 20.3 x 25.4cm (8 x 10in), with NASA HQ caption numbered “67- H-801” on the verso

168 b
Taken by a Kodak camera aboard the robot spacecraft Lunar Orbiter IV

The never before viewed South Pole of the Moon

Lunar Orbiter IV, May 1967

Vintage gelatin silver print on fiber-based paper, 20.3 x 25.4cm (8 x 10in), with NASA HQ caption numbered “67-H-743” on the verso

168 c
Taken by a Kodak camera aboard the robot spacecraft Lunar Orbiter IV

The whole Moon from a perspective never seen from Earth, showing the North Pole

Lunar Orbiter IV, May 1967

Vintage gelatin silver print on fiber-based paper, 20.3 x 25.4cm (8 x 10in), with NASA HQ caption numbered “67- H-833” on the verso
20.3 x 25.4cm (8 x 10in)

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Lot Essay

168 a
[NASA caption] Diagram showing orientation of Earth at 3.37 a.m. EST, April 30, 1967, when pictures of the crescent Earth were taken by Surveyor III one quarter million miles away. About four hours of Earth daylight can be seen.

“The historic photograph of the crescent Earth,” commented Robett F. Garbarini, former Deputy Associate Administrator (Engineering), NASA’s Office of Space Science and Applications, “was taken from the Moon’s surface by Surveyor III on April 30, 1967. Only because of the tilt of the spacecraft and the favorable libration of the Moon was it possible to catch the Earth in the camera’s wide-angle field of view.”

Lunar Orbiter I had taken the first photo of Earth from lunar orbit just 8 months previously but this was the first time man could see a view from his Home Planet from the surface of another world.

168 b
This high resolution first photograph (partial view of frame Lunar Orbiter IV-5H) taken by the Lunar Orbiter IV spacecraft as it arrived to the Moon shows a portion of lunar surface near the South Pole of the Moon never seen from directly above, near the 83-km Crater Hale located to the top of the picture. It was taken with the 610mm lens telephoto camera from 3510 km above the lunar surface and shows an area 440 km high by 320 km wide.

168 c
Lunar Orbiter IV was the first spacecraft to transmit such detailed views of the Moon’s globe, from a perspective different than from observers on Earth.

This medium resolution photograph (frame IV-92M) was taken with the 80mm lens from an altitude of 3457 km.

“At the time of the photography, the spacecraft was over a point at 72°N latitude and 27.5° E longitude. Tha arrow points to the approximate location of the Moon’s North Pole; The terminator follows a line from north to south along a line at 7°W longitude. The large mare are near the top of the picture is one of the major features seen on the Moon, the Sea of Serenity. Lunar Orbiter IV, one of a series of NASA spacecraft, is making a photographic survey covering most of the Moon’s surface” (NASA caption).