The public will be offered an opportunity to obtain a piece of important space history when Dreweatts auctioneers holds an exciting sale of Space Exploration Photography and Ephemera on March 17, 2021. This landmark sale is to include more than 600 photographs chronicling the history of man’s exploration of space, from early expeditions, to some of the latter trips of the 1990s.
Many of the photographs capture historic moments, such as the first humans in space, the first spacewalk and the first moon landing. Commenting on the works in the sale, Ania Hanrahan, Dreweatts Autographs and Ephemera specialist says, “These iconic images are sure to draw interest from around the globe, from historians, space and photography aficionados, private collectors and those wanting to obtain a true piece of history”.
Amongst the highlights is the first still photograph of a human in space, which is a vintage chromogenic print of American astronaut Ed White during the first U.S. spacewalk. The image shows him taking his historic 23 minute space walk on June 3, 1965, attached to the Gemini 4 spacecraft by a 7.6 metre tether line
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NASA astronaut William Anders illuminated the world (quite literally) on Apollo Mission 8, when he took the first ever photograph by a human from beyond the earth’s orbit. The photograph featured on the cover of Time Magazine in January 10, 1969 and became one of the 20th century’s most iconic space images. During the Apollo 8 mission the earth appeared as a ‘disc’, which is what Anders captured on December 21, 1968 at 13:06 GMT. Commenting on this Anders said: “We came all the way to see the moon and the most important thing is that we discovered the earth”. The photograph is estimated to fetch £2,000-£4,000 at auction. Photo: NASA
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Valentina Tereshkova; the first woman in space Photo: NASA
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Also on the Apollo 8 mission a near-full moon was captured in all of its’ glory during the crew’s homeward journey. Just after the trans-earth injection the crew were afforded the opportunity to view different aspects of the moon never visible to terrestrial viewers. This astonishing image is estimated to fetch £1,000-£2,000. Photo: NASA
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Yuri Gagarin (dated 12 April); the first human in space and in Earth orbit Photo: Comp