One Giant Leap for Mankind: Vintage Photographs from the Victor Martin-Malburet Collection 
28 October 2022
One Giant Leap for Mankind: Vintage Photographs from the Victor Martin-Malburet Collection 
251

Buzz Aldrin jumping down to the LM footpad to become the second human on the Moon, Neil Armstrong [Apollo 11], 16-24 July 1969

printed 1969
vintage chromogenic print on fiber-based Kodak paper 8 h × 10 w in (20 × 25 cm)
estimate: $2,500–4,000
result: $1,750
own a similar item?
free evaluation

Leaving the ninth step of the ladder, an eager Aldrin jumps down to the Moon 19 minutes after Armstrong. On his back rides a Portable Life Support System (PLSS) with oxygen for breathing, water for cooling, an electric power supply, and radio equipment.
'A Kodak Paper' watermarks to verso. [NASA image AS11-40-5868]

note: Media visuals referencing the original NASA photograph(s) not included.
literature: LIFE, 11 August 1969 National Geographic, December 1969, ppg. 738-739 LIFE, 8 August 1969, pg. 20 Time, 8 August 1969, pg. 23 Moon: Man’s Greatest Adventure, Thomas, ed., pg. 193 Apollo: Through the Eyes of the Astronauts, Jacobs, pg. 56 Apollo: The Epic Journey to the Moon, Reynolds, , pg. 144 Apollo Expeditions to the Moon (NASA SP-350), Cortright, ed., pg. 214

print
LIFE, 11 August 1969

Leaving the ninth step of the ladder, an eager Aldrin jumps down to the Moon 19 minutes after Armstrong. On his back rides a Portable Life Support System (PLSS) with oxygen for breathing, water for cooling, an electric power supply, and radio equipment.

On Earth his weight, including the spacesuit and mechanism-filled portable life-support system, would have totaled 360 lbs., but here the gross came only to a bouncy 60 lbs. (NASA SP-350, pg. 11.4)

National Geographic, December 1969, pgs. 738-739

“We opened the hatch and Neil, with me as his navigator, began backing out of the tiny opening. It seemed like a small eternity before I heard Neil say, ‘That’s one small step for man...one giant leap for mankind.’ In less than fifteen minutes I was backing awkwardly out of the hatch and onto the surface to join Neil, who, in the tradition of all tourists, had his camera ready to photograph my arrival.”

—Buzz Aldrin (NASA SP-350, pg. 215)

Time, 8 August 1969, pg. 23

LIFE, 8 August 1969, p. 20

From the mission transcript (photograph taken at T+109:42:42 after launch):

109:41:28 Aldrin:

Okay. Now I want to back up and partially close the hatch. (Long Pause) Making sure not to lock it on my way out.

109:41:53 Armstrong:

(Laughs) A particularly good thought.

109:41:56 Aldrin:

That’s our home for the next couple of hours and we want to take good care of it. (Pause) Okay. I’m on the top step and I can look down over the RCU (Remote Control Unit) and (garbled) landing gear pads. It’s a very simple matter to hop down from one step to the next.

109:42:18 Armstrong:

Yes. I found I could be very comfortable, and walking is also very comfortable.

109:42:28 Armstrong:

You’ve got three more steps and then a long one.

109:42:42 Aldrin:

Okay. I’m going to leave that one foot up there and both hands down to about the fourth rung up.

251