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Lot 111
[Gemini XI] FIRST HUMAN VIEW OF EARTH'S CURVATURE Richard Gordon, 12-15 September 1966
14 – 28 April 2025, 12:00 CEST
Paris, Avenue HocheSold for €563.20 inc. premium
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[Gemini XI] FIRST HUMAN VIEW OF EARTH'S CURVATURE
Richard Gordon, 12-15 September 1966
Printed 1966.
Vintage chromogenic print on fibre-based Kodak paper [NASA image S-66-54543].
Numbered "NASA S-66-54543" in red in the top margin, with "A Kodak Paper" watermark on the reverse (issued by NASA Manned Spacecraft Centre, Houston, Texas).
20.3 x 25.4 cm. (8 x 10 in.)
Historical context
Once docked with the Agena Target Vehicle (its L-band antenna visible in the left foreground), the Gemini XI astronauts used its propulsion system to boost their apogee to 740 nautical miles (1,370 km)—the highest Earth orbit ever achieved by a manned spacecraft. This record stood until 2024, although astronauts on the Apollo missions travelled farther to reach the Moon. Pete Conrad and Richard Gordon were the first humans to witness such a spectacular view, exclaiming, "It's GO up here and the world's round. [...] It's really fantastic: You wouldn't believe it!"
Printed 1966.
Vintage chromogenic print on fibre-based Kodak paper [NASA image S-66-54543].
Numbered "NASA S-66-54543" in red in the top margin, with "A Kodak Paper" watermark on the reverse (issued by NASA Manned Spacecraft Centre, Houston, Texas).
20.3 x 25.4 cm. (8 x 10 in.)
Historical context
Once docked with the Agena Target Vehicle (its L-band antenna visible in the left foreground), the Gemini XI astronauts used its propulsion system to boost their apogee to 740 nautical miles (1,370 km)—the highest Earth orbit ever achieved by a manned spacecraft. This record stood until 2024, although astronauts on the Apollo missions travelled farther to reach the Moon. Pete Conrad and Richard Gordon were the first humans to witness such a spectacular view, exclaiming, "It's GO up here and the world's round. [...] It's really fantastic: You wouldn't believe it!"
Footnotes
This photograph, taken during orbit 27 with the Hasselblad Super Wide camera and its 38mm lens, captures the curvature of the Earth over the Indian Ocean, the Maldive Islands, southern India, and Sri Lanka (Ceylon) under partial cloud cover, from an altitude of 500 nautical miles.
From the mission transcript during their highest orbit (orbit 26):
041:02:40 Conrad: I'll tell you, it's GO up here and the world's round.
041:02:43 Capcom (Mission Control): You have a good view?
041:02:45 Conrad: I mean it's spectacular!
041:02:47 Gordon: Bill, it's really fantastic: You wouldn't believe it!
041:02:50 Conrad: I tried to yippee out the left window and...
041:02:57 Conrad: - - ... under our nose and you're out the right window.
041:02:59 Capcom: Get some pictures out the right window, not the left.
041:03:02 Conrad: Actually, we're taking them all out the right window except the [garble] camera.
041:03:08 Capcom: Roger.
Watch more
CLICK HERE: Gemini XI (1966)
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