Photograph of the Lunar Module and Buzz Aldrin deploying a scientific experiment on the moon, signed by all three crew members: Armstrong, Aldrin, and Collins and by NASA Administrator Thomas Paine

A RARELY SIGNED SPACE PHOTOGRAPH, signed by the crew of Apollo 11, the first manned mission to the Moon: Neil Armstrong (commander), Buzz Aldrin (lunar module pilot), and Michael Collins (command module pilot) and by NASA Administrator Thomas Paine.

This dramatic Neil Armstrong photograph of Buzz Aldrin shows the deploying of the Passive Seismic Experiment, with the lunar module and the American flag in the background. The seismometer provided data on "moonquakes" and meteor impacts on the Moon. NASA describes the image: "Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin with the seismic experiment. Solar panels have deployed on the left and right and the antenna is pointed at earth. The laser reflector is beyond the antenna and, in the distance, the TV camera is silhouetted against the black sky."

This photograph is from the collection of Thomas Paine, who succeeded James Webb as NASA Administrator in 1968. Paine was charged with fulfilling Kennedy's vow to land men on the moon and bring them back safely before the end of the decade. This photograph commemorates that momentous achievement. During Paine's tenure the first seven manned Apollo missions were flown, resulting in twelve men walking on the Moon.

This is a very scarce large-format print of a pioneering experiment undertaken on the Moon, taken by Neil Armstrong on July 21, 1969.

Provenance: Thomas Paine, head of NASA during the Apollo 11 mission.

Color photograph (11 x 14 in.), original mount. Signatures slightly faded, some age-toning to mat, the photograph in fine condition.