Famous moments in space history to be auctioned next week

9 March 2021

A series of photographs of great significance in space history will be auctioned next week, including images of the first humans in space, the first moon landing and the first space walk.

More than 600 images will go under the hammer in the one-off online auction, Space Exploration Photography and Ephemera, which will be run by UK auction house Dreweatts on March 17.

Dreweatts auctioneers - Apollo 11. The celebrated Life Magazine cover photo of Buzz Aldrin on the Moon. Est. £2,000-£3,000. — Dreweatts auctioneers - Apollo 11. The celebrated *Life Magazine* cover photo of Buzz Aldrin on the Moon. Est. £2,000-£3,000.

Members of the public will be able to bid on the famous stills, which were taken on early space expeditions in the 1960s right through to later expeditions of the 1990s.

One of the highlights of the auction will be the first still photograph of a human in space, a vintage chromogenic print of American astronaut Ed White captured during the first U.S. spacewalk. You can read more about the image and others from the first spacewalk in this great article here.

Dreweatts auctioneers - Gemini 4. The first still photograph of a human in space taken during the first American spacewalk. Est. £1,000-£2,000

The photo depicts White taking his 23-minute space walk on June 3 in 1965, while attached to the Gemini 4 spacecraft by a 7.6 metre tether line. The image was captured by fellow Astronaut James A. McDivitt, likely with a Zeiss Ikon Contarex using Kodak Ektachrome MS (S.O. -217) specially manufactured for NASA missions by Kodak.

The photograph also doubles as the first image taken by another human in space, as before this point, photographs had only been captured by monitoring cameras and other technologies. The image has a guide price of £1,000-£2,000.

Dreweatts auctioneers - Apollo 8. Near-full Moon as witnessed by the Apollo 8 crew during homebound journey. Est. £1,000-2,000

Dreweatts auctioneers - Apollo 8. Earthrise - the first colour photograph of the Earth rising above the Moon's horizon. Est. £3,000-5,000

Dreweatts auctioneers - Lunar Orbiter 1. Earthrise - the world's first view of the Earth from the Moon's perspective. Est. £800-£1,200

Dreweatts auctioneers - Apollo 8. First photograph of the Earth taken by a human from beyond the Earth's orbit. Est. £2,000-£4,000

You can view the rest of the auction catalogue here, as well as register to bid.

The auction goes live for bidding at 10pm AEST on March 17.