Auction house to sell vintage NASA photographs

LONDON, Feb. 5 (UPI) -- An auction house in Wales is selling a portfolio of vintage photographs taken and collected by NASA astronauts during the 1940s, 50s and 60s.

The collection features a range of photographs -- some iconic, some never before seen by the public -- of the famous 1969 moon landing. Many of the photographs were found by archivists sorting through old NASA records.

A selfie of Buzz Aldrin. Photo by Bloomsbury Auctions/NASA.

Perhaps the most notable image in the collection (given today's astronauts' propensity for Instagram and Twitter) is a so-called selfie taken by Buzz Aldrin, the second man to walk on the moon. It's arguably the first selfie ever taken in space. The archive of more than 600 photos include another impressive first -- the first ever photograph of Earth taken from space. The portrait was taken by a camera mounted to a rocket launched up and out of Earth's atmosphere in 1946.

Astronaut Ed White floats in space. Photo by Bloomsbury Auctions/NASA.

The photos are expected to sell for upwards of $800,000 in total. They've been organized into lots by London's Bloomsbury Auction House, with starting prices ranging from a few hundred dollars to more than $15,000.

The first ever spacecraft photographed in orbit around the moon. Photo by Bloomsbury Auction/NASA.

"This extraordinary collection ticks off all of the most significant moments in the history of NASA space exploration," a Bloomsbury spokesperson told The Mirror. "I can't think of a significant moment that doesn't feature in the archive."