The first selfie from another world, 21-27 December 1968

Vintage chromogenic print on fiber-based paper, printed 1968, numbered "NASA S-68-56532" in red in top margin, with NASA (MSC) caption and "A KODAK PAPER" watermark on verso, 20,3 x 25,4 cm, lower left corner slightly bumped

As the Apollo 8 spacecraft rounded the Moon for the first time in history, William Anders turned the 16mm camera toward himself to capture a rare self portrait, the first selfie from another world.

[NASA caption] APOLLO 8 IVA – Astronaut William A. Anders, lunar module pilot, is shown during intra vehicular activity (IVA) on the Apollo 8 lunar orbit mission. This still print was made from movie film taken by an onboard 16mm motion picture camera.

“I think you all overemphasize this emotional, what-does-it-do-to-the-psyche and all that sort of stuff. We’re engineers and we’re test pilots. You’re not doing anything different from taking up an airplane. And going out to the Moon is certainly a first, and it’s awe-inspiring, and it’s great. But I mean, there’s no great emotional change. Nothing in zero gravity or space changes anything you think, or anything like that. [...] I mean, it’s just another extension of our exploration.”
James Lovell (Chaikin, Voices, p. 162).