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Lot 101
[Gemini IX-A] "SPACEWALK FROM HELL": Eugene Cernan performing the dramatic second US spacewalk Thomas Stafford, 3-7 June 1966
14 – 28 April 2025, 12:00 CEST
Paris, Avenue HocheSold for €1,664 inc. premium
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[Gemini IX-A] "SPACEWALK FROM HELL": Eugene Cernan performing the dramatic second US spacewalk
Thomas Stafford, 3-7 June 1966
Printed 1966.
Vintage chromogenic print on fibre-based Kodak paper [NASA image S-66-38515].
Numbered "NASA "S-66-38515" in red in the top margin, with NASA caption numbered "S-66-38515" and "A Kodak Paper" watermark on the reverse (issued by NASA Manned Spacecraft Centre, Houston, Texas).
20 x 25.4 cm. (8 x 10 in.)
Historical context
A rare and striking photograph of Eugene Cernan suspended in the dark void of space—the only Gemini IX spacewalk photograph released by NASA after the mission. Connected to the Gemini spacecraft by his EVA umbilical cord, Cernan struggled through the second U.S. spacewalk, an ordeal that quickly turned into a harrowing test of endurance. His visor fogged up, preventing him from using the Astronaut Manoeuvring Unit (AMU), and he fought against his own tether in weightlessness.
The mission's challenges were severe. As Stafford later revealed in the 1999 documentary Mission Impossible: Gemini, there was genuine concern that Cernan would not be able to re-enter the spacecraft. In a chilling contingency plan, if he became trapped outside, Stafford would have been forced to attempt re-entry with Cernan still attached by his umbilical—a scenario that would have resulted in the death of both astronauts.
Printed 1966.
Vintage chromogenic print on fibre-based Kodak paper [NASA image S-66-38515].
Numbered "NASA "S-66-38515" in red in the top margin, with NASA caption numbered "S-66-38515" and "A Kodak Paper" watermark on the reverse (issued by NASA Manned Spacecraft Centre, Houston, Texas).
20 x 25.4 cm. (8 x 10 in.)
Historical context
A rare and striking photograph of Eugene Cernan suspended in the dark void of space—the only Gemini IX spacewalk photograph released by NASA after the mission. Connected to the Gemini spacecraft by his EVA umbilical cord, Cernan struggled through the second U.S. spacewalk, an ordeal that quickly turned into a harrowing test of endurance. His visor fogged up, preventing him from using the Astronaut Manoeuvring Unit (AMU), and he fought against his own tether in weightlessness.
The mission's challenges were severe. As Stafford later revealed in the 1999 documentary Mission Impossible: Gemini, there was genuine concern that Cernan would not be able to re-enter the spacecraft. In a chilling contingency plan, if he became trapped outside, Stafford would have been forced to attempt re-entry with Cernan still attached by his umbilical—a scenario that would have resulted in the death of both astronauts.
Footnotes
In The Last Man on the Moon (1999), Cernan recalled his desperate struggle:
"I felt as if I was wrestling an octopus. The umbilical cavorted with a life of its own, twirling like a ribbon, trying to trap me like a cord winding around a window shade." After 20 exhausting minutes, he likened the "snake" of his tether to "the most malicious serpent since the one Eve met in the Garden of Eden."
This remarkable image was taken by Tom Stafford using the Maurer space camera with an 80mm lens. The reflection of Earth and the spacecraft is visible in Cernan's gold visor, as well as in the small mirror mounted near the window of the capsule (bottom left). His EVA Super Wide Hasselblad camera is secured to his chest.
From the mission transcript when the photograph was taken:
049:44:08 Stafford: Okay, I can see you in the darkness while we're here and appears ... looking real good. Let me know when you get near those thrusters.
049:44:12 Cernan: Yes. I can see you in the cockpit. I'm overhead; you're real good. [...]
049:45:15 Cernan: Boy, what a beautiful Spacecraft, Golly' [...]
049:45:22 Cernan: I'm trying to get out in front here where I can get a good evaluation of pod and this umbilical. [...]
049:47:13 Cernan: I 'm right on top of your window.
049:47:14 Stafford: I've got a picture of you. [...]
049:47:20 Cernan: The only control I have is the umbilical and, of course, the shorter it is, the better control I've got.
049:47:27 Stafford: Okay. We've got 20 minutes of sunrise and 30 minutes to sunset. [...]
049:48:06 Cernan: Okay. I'm at the end of the umbilical. [...]
049:48:12 Stafford: Yes, you look like a real snake out there. [...]
049:48:44 Cernan: I want to see what I can do around the nose here.
049:48: 46 Stafford: Okay.
049:49:01 Cernan: Oh, boy. All I did was twitch my fingers and I gave myself a torque that wouldn't quit. [...]
049:49:13 Stafford: Okay. Come on over in front of the window and I can get a picture of you. Go on with your evaluation.
Watch more
CLICK HERE: Gemini IX-A Onboard Footage with Narration from Post-Flight Press Conference
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