Here's how you can own the first selfie taken in outer space

ByJustin Sedgwick KABC logo
Tuesday, February 24, 2015
Astronaut Buzz Aldrin taking a self portrait in outer space during the Gemini 12 mission in 1966.
creativeContent-Buzz Aldrin / Twitter / NASA

That's one small step for man, one giant selfie for mankind.

Below is an image astronaut Buzz Aldrin snapped during the Gemini 12 mission in 1966, which Aldrin claims was the first ever space selfie.

After tweeting the image in July of last year, the space selfie quickly went viral, with over 20,000 retweets and nearly 15,000 shares. Now, Aldrin's space self-portrait is set for auction alongside 1,100 images from the space age, according to The New York Times.

The items will be sold off on Thursday at Bloomsbury Auctions in London, with photographs expecting to sell between $750,000 and $1 million. Other photographs from NASA include "Earthrise" taken from the Apollo 8 mission, and Aldrin's iconic boot print taken during the Apollo 11 moon landing.

But you don't need to be present in London to make an astronomically high bid on Aldrin's space selfie. Dreweatts and Bloomsbury lists several online resources that potential bidders can use to try to claim the selfie as their own.

Aldrin's selfie certainly has spawned a self portrait trend amongst astronauts. Below you can see an image of astronaut Barry (Butch) Wilmore taking a selfie, with his spacewalking partner Terry Virts visible in the reflection of his visor.

NASA

(Photo credit: NASA)