First selfie in space and other treasure-trove of NASA photos up for auction

A private collector released a treasure trove of NASA images from spaceflight's golden era for auction, including the only photograph taken of the first human walking on the moon, Neil Armstrong's giant leap for mankind. The July 1969 snapshot is the highlight of collecting 2,400 vintage images across 700 lots featured on the Christie's of London website, including the first selfie from space by Armstrong's Apollo 11 crewmate Buzz Aldrin. Bidding starts at £100 (about $132) for many of the auction photographs, which is being held online because of the coronavirus pandemic? Christie estimates that some of the better-known images will reach more than £50,000 ($66,000) individually. Most recently, images from the Apollo missions of the 1960s and early 1970s toured several prestigious art museums in Europe during the summer of 2019 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the first human moon landing. The collection is the most comprehensive private collection of NASA photographs ever presented at auction. It spans every visual milestone of the space program, from the early days of Mercury, the technical advances of Gemini and lunar orbiter, to Apollo's triumphs. Through their cameras, the astronauts-turned-artists conveyed to humanity the beauty and profundity of their experience in space.