The First Picture Taken By A Human On A Solar Body Other Than The Earth

 It is worth noting that 53 years ago yesterday the very first picture of an earthman (Buzz Aldrin) walking on the surface of the earth's moon was taken by another earthman (Neil Armstrong). 

 The picture was taken with a heavily modified Hasselblad 500EL data camera (medium format) outfitted with a Zeiss Biogon f/5.6 60mm lens

  Kodak created very thin 70mm film for NASA that allowed the astro-photographers to take 160 color photos or 200 black and white photos per roll - not available at a store near you.

  Modifications made to the camera were for two primary reasons - to keep the cameras from freezing or over-heating (two ever-present extremes of the vacuum of space/moon's surface), and, since the astronauts were wearing very large gloves, larger controls on the camera to allow for easier manipulation of the buttons and dials. 

  There was only one camera available, and Neil Armstrong had it mounted chest-level to his space suit. 

   Huh. Fifty-three years ago, on a big rock almost 239,000 miles from the earth a camera mounted chest- high allowed a person to keep their hands free for other tasks.

   53 years ago. 239,000 miles from the earth's surface. Body-mounted cameras recorded the action.

   You'd think some smart person would have thought that technology would have had an immediate use right here on good 'ol terra firma.

    BTW, all the cameras used to take pictures on and from the moon during the various Apollo missions were left on the moon (to save weight on the trip back) except for one, a 16mm Mauer motion picture camera that had been used from the inside of the lunar module to document Neil Armstrong's descent down the ladder and onto the surface of the moon. 

   That camera was secretly brought back by Commander Armstrong, and he kept it hidden for 43 years - it was discovered in his effects after his death and is now on display at the Smithsonian.