[NASA]. Photograph of Buzz Aldrin facing American flag on the moon, signed by crew members. 1969.

8 x 9 3/4 in. chromogenic print. Matted and framed (not examined out of frame, overall 17 1/4 x 17 1/4 in.). Provenance: Letter of certification (see below); acquired Heritage Auction Galleries, 8 October 2009, Sale 6033 lot 41068.

ICONIC IMAGE OF BUZZ ALDRIN ON THE MOON. SIGNED BY NEIL ARMSTRONG, MICHAEL COLLINS, AND BUZZ ALDRIN ON MAT.

On July 21, 1969, Neil Armstrong took his first tentative steps out of the Apollo Lunar Module Eagle and onto the moon's surface, marking humankind's first steps onto an alien world, declaring as he did, "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind." Nineteen minutes later Buzz Aldrin joined him, and for the next 21 hours and 36 minutes the two collected lunar soil samples, left scientific experiments, and took photographs, one of the iconic of which being Buzz Aldrin saluting the American flag after having mounted it into the solid, rocky ground of the lunar surface.

The photographs taken by Neil Armstrong were made by a Hasselblad camera which was specially manufactured for use on the moon. While tasked mainly with photographing the lunar surface, it is Armstrong's photographs of Aldrin which best convey the sense of wonder in being the very first human beings to set foot on an alien world. Includes a Letter of Certification from the original owner (not present here) which states in part, "This unique space treasure was a gifted keepsake given to me by a friend on the staff of public relations with NASA, Cape Kennedy, Florida. The mounted photo was obtained and signed in a brief span of time following the culmination of the moon mission... [This friend] served as the liaison public relations control for space missions and the astronauts before and after each mission dating from the period of 1960. He is retired from NASA..."