NASA photographs of Apollo missions to go on auction in Denmark

Approximately 74 photographs of the Apollo missions by NASA documenting its space exploration are all set to under the hammer.

These include the first picture of the first earthrise witnessed by humans and the first human steps on the moon.

Several of the collection's photographs have belonged to NASA's own archives and were not known to the public, while selected copies appeared on the covers of major influential American magazinesto tell the world about the United States' success in the lunar race.

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The "very exciting" auction of the private collection, owned by a foreign national whose identity has been kept confidential, takes place on 9 March and will see the 74 items been auctioned individually.

NASA said that it decided to auction the images as this year marks the 60th anniversary for the former American President John F. Kennedy’s famous Moon speech.

''His inspiring words in 1962 were not just about the vision of putting humans on the Moon, but about galvanising the spirit of the times where everything seemed possible for mankind,'' said the US space agency.

The auction also includes photographs of Kennedy's final visit to NASA at Cape Canaveral on 16 November 1963, just six days before his tragic death.

Danish auction house Bruun Rasmussen, which is responsible for the event, said the items are expected to fetch over $2 million.

''It was truly a time of greatness, and there was a sense of incredible accomplishment because we as humans had succeeded in making it to the Moon. A belief in our own abilities and a sense of limitless potential abounded in society, and despite the crises that also existed during that time, humanity achieved some of the greatest things within space exploration – putting a human on the Moon,'' says Laerke Bogh, Head of Department and Specialist at Bruun Rasmussen.

''The spirit of the times and the world history that was written during this period shines through clearly in the photographs. Knowing that these are the original photographs taken by the astronauts during the biggest missions of their lives presents a great thrill in this digital age.''

The idea behind the Apollo programme was to get the first human safely to the Moon and back again to Earth. Between 1968-1972, a series of more or less successful Apollo missions were launched by NASA.

On several of the missions, the spaceships managed to enter the lunar orbit, and on the famous Apollo 11 in 1969, they finally landed on the Moon.

(With inputs from agencies)