First Ever EVA Selfie - Buzz Aldrin

Astronaut Buzz Aldrin took the first EVA Selfie in 1966. Photo Credit: NASA

As he spacewalked, NASA astronaut Buzz Aldrin (born Edwin Eugene Aldrin Jr., January 20, 1930) took the first-ever EVA "selfie" in 1966, during the Gemini 12 Mission (November 11, 1966, thru November 15, 1966). The photo was taken approximately 180 miles (289 km) above Earth as he orbited.

Robert Cornelius took the first selfie in 1839. Photo: Public Domain

For those interested in who the first-ever selfie taker was, including here on Earth, that title goes to Robert Cornelius, an American pioneer in photography. He produced a daguerreotype, an early photographic photograph that employed an iodine-sensitized silvered plate and mercury vapor. In 1839, Cornelius took this daguerreotype of himself, also one of the first photographs ever taken of a person. Due to the process of taking a picture at that time, which was quite possibly a minute or more, he could uncover the lens, run into the shot, and then replace the lens cap. He recorded on the back, "The first light Picture ever taken. 1839." Unknown to him then, he had also taken what we now call a "selfie." Thus, this was not only the first light picture ever taken; it was also documented as the first "selfie" ever taken.