Apollo 11, July 16-24, 1969, 103:59:47 GET

Six 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 “AS11-39-5760, AS11-39-5761, AS11-39-5762, AS11-39-5772, AS11-39-5773, AS11-39-5774” in margin
20.3 x 25.4cm (8 x 10in)

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Lot Essay

These overlapping photographs from the B&W magazine 39/Q were taken by Aldrin and Armstrong from both windows of the LM Eagle with the Hasselblad EVA camera equipped with a 60mm (focal length) lens.

Frames from magazine 39/Q were not released by NASA after the mission.

The Eagle casts a long shadow at Tranquillity Base after touchdown. Double Crater is to the left of Eagle’s shadow.

“Landings were carefully planned to have the Sun low and at the pilots’ backs for ease of landmark spotting as they came in” (Reynolds, p.141).

“Probably the most surprising thing to me, even though I guess we suspected a certain amount of this, was the light and color observations of the surface. The down-Sun area was extremely bright. It appeared to be a light tan in color, and you could see into the washout region reasonably well. Detail was obscured somewhat by the washout, but not badly. As you proceeded back toward cross-Sun, brightness diminished, and the (tan) color started to fade, and it began to be more gray. As we looked back as far as we could from the LM windows, the color of the surface was actually a darker gray. I’d say not completely without color, but most of the tan had disappeared as we got back into that area, and we were looking at relatively dark gray. In the (LM) shadow, it was very dark. We could see into the shadows, but it was difficult,” noted Neil Armstrong (1969 Technical Debrief, from the ALSJ mission transcript at 104:03:18 GET).

From the mission transcript after landing:

102:57:01 Aldrin: This one-sixth g is just like the airplane.
102:57:04 Duke: Rog. Tranquility. Be advised there’re lots of smiling faces in this room and all over the world. Over.
102:57:15 Armstrong: Well, there are two of them up here.
102:57:17 Duke: Rog. That was a beautiful job, you guys.
102:57:19 Collins: And don’t forget one (smiling face) in the Command Module.