Until we get some self-portraits from Mars, it looks like astronaut Buzz Aldrin really is the king of all selfies. He took this self-portrait during the Gemini 12 mission in 1966 with the curve of the Earth photo bombing in the background. A vintage print of what is considered the first “space selfie” –originally expected to sell for a minimum of around $920– ending up selling for about 10 times that, $9,200 at Dreweatts & Bloomsbury in London.
This pic predates the selfie by decades and Buzz hasn’t been shy about staking his claim to history. In a Twitter post from last July, he referred to it as the
“best selfie ever.”
The auction photo is an 8×10 chromogenic print on Kodak paper that was part of a large selection of vintage space-related NASA photos auctioned. It included portraits of astronauts, images from the first US spacewalk in 1965 and the first photograph from space.
This portrait of Buzz Aldrin from the Apollo 11 mission shows Neil Armstrong, and the Lunar Module reflected in his gold-plated visor.