“One of my favorite photos from this fantastic collection is a photo of Buzz Aldrin taken by Neil Armstrong where you can see Armstrong reflected in the visor,” Kasper Nielsen, an official at the house, told AFP. Bruun Rasmussen auction.
The 74 photos are from several Apollo missions carried out by NASA, the American space agency, around and mainly on the Moon in the 1960s and 1970s, including 26 taken from the Earth satellite.
“Of course, the highlight is the Apollo 11 mission reaching the Moon for the first time,” on July 20, 1969, said Mr. Nielsen, who led the assessment of the pictures by Denmark’s largest auction house.
Sold by a foreign collector who wishes to remain anonymous, the series is estimated by Bruun Rasmussen at 1.4 million crowns in total, or nearly 190,000 euros.
Each photograph is sold separately.
The most valuable, the first “Earthrise” photographed by American astronaut William Anders in December 1968 from lunar orbit, is estimated at between 8,000 and 12,000 euros.
There are also pictures taken during the very eventful return to Earth of the Apollo 13 mission, victim of a serious accident.
Several of the silver originals were part of the NASA archives and are on public display for the first time ahead of the sale.
Others have appeared on the cover of major American magazines such as National Geographic or Life to illustrate the success of the United States in the space race.
“This collection is very important today,” says Mr. Nielsen. “It shows us the great achievements of humanity from a historical perspective, looking at what happened and what humanity achieved in the 1960s and 1970s.”
“She also shows us that when you set a goal, almost anything is possible.”
The last time humans visited the moon was in 1972, with Apollo 17, but NASA is aiming for an astronaut return there around 2025-2026.
