309 a
Michael Collins

Sunrise on Earth before translunar injection

Apollo 11, July 16-24,1969, 001:25:10 GET

Vintage chromogenic print on fiber-based Kodak paper, 20.3 x 25.4cm (8 x 10in), with “A Kodak Paper” watermarks on the verso [NASA AS11-36-5295]

309 b
Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, or Michael Collins

Earth after translunar injection

Apollo 11, July 16-24, 1969, 003:05:00 GET

Unreleased photograph, vintage chromogenic print on fiber-based Kodak paper, 20.3 x 25.4cm (8 x 10in), with “A Kodak Paper” watermarks on the verso [NASA AS11-36-5307]

“After one and a half orbits a preprogrammed sequence fired the Saturn to send us out of Earth orbit and on our way to the Moon,” said Buzz Aldrin (NASA SP-350, p.206).
20.3 x 25.4cm (8 x 10in)

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Lot Essay

309 a
As the crew was orbiting Earth’s nightside, Collins missed the opportunity to take a photo of the limb of the Earth at sunrise, having lost the Hasselblad camera in the cabin’s zero g five minutes earlier.
But he captured the glaring Sun in the sky above the ocean, rising rapidly as a result of their orbital motion.

001:18:04 Collins: Stand by for sunrise. [...]
001:19:57 Collins: Jesus Christ, look at that horizon!
001:19:59 Armstrong: Isn’t that something?
001:20:00 Collins: God damn, that’s pretty! This is unreal. I’d forgotten.
001:20:08 Armstrong: Get a picture of that.
001:20:10 Collins: Ooh, sure, I will. I’ve lost a Hasselblad. Has anybody seen a Hasselblad floating by? It couldn’t have gone very far, big son of a gun like that. [...]
001:22:13 Collins: I looked... I’ve looked everywhere over here for that Hasselblad, and I just don’t see it.
001:22:24 Armstrong: It’s too late for sunrise, anyway. [...]
001:22:28 Aldrin: But you want to get it before TLI. [Translunar Injection.]
001:22:30 Collins: ...I know it. That’s what I’m worried about. [...]
001:23:24 Collins: Ah! Here it is (the Hasselblad). [...]
001:24:17 Collins: I got a little horizon. Man, look at that! [...]
001:24:51 Collins: Fantastic. I have no conception of where we’re pointed or which way we are or a crapping thing, but it’s a beautiful low pressure cell out here.
001:25:10 Aldrin: Yes, go ahead and take a picture.

309 b
“After one and a half orbits a preprogrammed sequence fired the Saturn to send us out of Earth orbit and on our way to the Moon,” said Buzz Aldrin (NASA SP-350, p.206).

Armstrong described how he felt leaving the Earth, “The engine comes to life; you settle back in your seat; you feel the strong push of that rocket in your back – but in the dark you just can’t see what’s happening. There’s no visual confirmation. The engine stops and you’re floating again. You see a scimitar of light ahead – a sliver of daylight marking the dawn and you are flying back into daylight. In a half minute you are smothered in daylight – it’s overwhelming. You are moving outward from Earth at ten times the speed of a rifle bullet, but you seem to be perfectly motionless. The horizon is growing more and more; you can see Australia off to the right and Japan off to the left. All of a sudden you can see the entire circle – the whole planet Earth exploding away from you into the inky black sky…” (Hamish Lindsey, Tracking Apollo to the Moon, Springer, London, 2001).

002:26:38 McCandless: Apollo 11, this is Houston. You are Go for TLI. Over.
002:26:45 Collins: Apollo 11. Thank you. [...]
002:44:19 Collins: Ignition. [Pause.]
002:44:22 Collins: Okay.
002:44:26 Armstrong: Whew! [...]
002:53:03 Armstrong: Hey, Houston, Apollo 11. That Saturn gave us a magnificent ride.