[Apollo 11] Crater Daedalus on the forbidding center of the Moon’s backside,...

[Apollo 11] Crater Daedalus on the forbidding center of the Moon’s backside, as seen by the loneliest human being in the world. Michael Collins, 16–24 July 1969. Printed 1969. Vintage chromogenic print on fiber-based Kodak paper [NASA image AS11–44-6609]. 25.4×20.3 cm (10×8 in), with "A Kodak Paper“ watermarks on the verso (NASA / North American Rockwell, Downey, California).

Literature: Moon: Man’s Greatest Adventure, Thomas, ed., ppg. 186–187.

Michael Collins took this astonishing photograph as he was orbiting the backside of the Moon alone in the CSM Columbia during one of the orbital passes between orbits 19 and 26 while Armstrong and Aldrin were exploring the lunar surface on board the LM Eagle. Collins was the first human being in history to be isolated and without communication from both his Home Planet, 240,000 miles away, and his crewmates on the surface of the Moon in another craft.

This view, captured with the Hasselblad 500EL equipped with the 80mm lens and color magazine 44/V as the Sun was setting over the center of the “Dark Side” of the Moon, is looking southwest toward the 93-km Crater Daedalus and its forbidding surrounding area. Latitude / Longitude: 4°S / 179° E.

“When the Sun is shining on the surface at a very shallow angle, the craters cast long shadows and the Moon’s surface seems very inhospitable, forbidding almost. I did not sense any great invitation on the part of the Moon for us to come into its domain. I sensed more almost a hostile place, a scary place.” Michael Collins (from the documentary In The Shadow of the Moon, 2007).

Condition Report:Very minor softening to left edges, otherwise excellent condition.

Category:Photos ▸ Vintage photographs