One Giant Leap for Mankind: Vintage Photographs from the Victor Martin-Malburet Collection 
28 October 2022
, Pete Conrad and Surveyor III robot spacecraft with Ocean of Storms Base in the background, Alan Bean [Apollo 12], 14-24 November 1969 - Image 1 of 4
, Pete Conrad and Surveyor III robot spacecraft with Ocean of Storms Base in the background, Alan Bean [Apollo 12], 14-24 November 1969 - Image 2 of 4
, Pete Conrad and Surveyor III robot spacecraft with Ocean of Storms Base in the background, Alan Bean [Apollo 12], 14-24 November 1969 - Image 3 of 4
, Pete Conrad and Surveyor III robot spacecraft with Ocean of Storms Base in the background, Alan Bean [Apollo 12], 14-24 November 1969 - Image 4 of 4
One Giant Leap for Mankind: Vintage Photographs from the Victor Martin-Malburet Collection 
, Pete Conrad and Surveyor III robot spacecraft with Ocean of Storms Base in the background, Alan Bean [Apollo 12], 14-24 November 1969 - Image 1 of 4
, Pete Conrad and Surveyor III robot spacecraft with Ocean of Storms Base in the background, Alan Bean [Apollo 12], 14-24 November 1969 - Image 2 of 4
, Pete Conrad and Surveyor III robot spacecraft with Ocean of Storms Base in the background, Alan Bean [Apollo 12], 14-24 November 1969 - Image 3 of 4
, Pete Conrad and Surveyor III robot spacecraft with Ocean of Storms Base in the background, Alan Bean [Apollo 12], 14-24 November 1969 - Image 4 of 4
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Pete Conrad and Surveyor III robot spacecraft with Ocean of Storms Base in the background, Alan Bean [Apollo 12], 14-24 November 1969

printed 1969
vintage gelatin silver print on fiber-based paper 8 h × 10 w in (20 × 25 cm)
estimate: $1,000–1,500
result: $313
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This symbolic photograph of the Apollo 12 mission shows for the very first time a human being next to a robot spacecraft on the surface of another world.
Numbered to upper margin 'NASA AS12-48-7134'. Inscribed to verso with NASA MSC caption.

note: Media visuals referencing the original NASA photograph(s) not included.
literature: LIFE, 12 December 1969, pg. 37 Time, 5 December 1969, pg. 41 The View from Space: American Astronaut Photography, 1962–1972, Schick and Van Haaften, pg. 102 Space: A History of Space Exploration in Photographs, Chaikin, pg. 105 Moon: Man’s Greatest Adventure, Thomas, ed., pg. 259 Apollo: Through the Eyes of the Astronauts, Jacobs, pg. 76

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This symbolic photograph of the Apollo 12 mission shows for the very first time a human being next to a robot spacecraft on the surface of another world.

Bean’s photograph of Conrad alongside the Surveyor III spacecraft with their lunar module in the background documents the first evidence, in one location, of human and robotic exploration on a celestial body. (Dick, pg.279)


LIFE, 12 December 1969, pg. 37; TIME, 5 December 1969, pg. 41

The Surveyor III spacecraft had landed inside Surveyor Crater in the Ocean of Storms more than two years prior to the landing of the Apollo 12 astronauts.

After Conrad’s suggestion to take some “tourist” photos of each other standing in front of Surveyor III, Alan Bean captured this famous image of Pete Conrad “jiggling” the spacecraft to see if it was firmly planted. The LM Intrepid, the S-band antenna and the American flag are in the background, about 183 m away.

“This image is symbolic of our mission. Our objective was to perform a pinpoint landing at the Surveyor III target site at the rim of the Surveyor Crater. This precision landing was of great significance to the future exploration program because landing points in rough terrain of great scientific interest could then be targeted.”

—Richard Gordon (Jacobs, pg. 77)

From the mission transcript (photograph taken at T+134:16:54 after launch):

134:15:59 Bean:

You don’t get a chance like this every day. Shoot up the extras; we’ve got lots of film.

134:16:03 Conrad:

Yep. Here you go.

134:16:06 Bean:

Okay. (Pause)

134:16:10 Conrad:

Why don’t you get yourself in the photo, too?

134:16:14 Bean:

Okay. Just a second. (Pause) Back up just a little, Pete. Try for 15 feet. (Pause) Okay. That ought to be good. How’s that look to you?

134:16:39 Conrad:

Good. Come in just a foot.

134:16:43 Bean:

(Chuckling) You got a calibrated eye, huh? (Pause)

134:16:48 Conrad:

Trouble with that camera is, if it’s not right on the money, it’s out of focus.

134:16:52 Bean:

Okay.

134:16:54 Conrad:

Okay, Houston. I’m jiggling it. The Surveyor is firmly planted here; that’s no problem.

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