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Lot 113
[Gemini XI] SPACE COWBOY: Richard Gordon's EVA, astride the Gemini spacecraft in outer space NASA, 12-15 September 1966
14 – 28 April 2025, 12:00 CEST
Paris, Avenue HocheSold for €1,280 inc. premium
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[Gemini XI] SPACE COWBOY: Richard Gordon's EVA, astride the Gemini spacecraft in outer space
NASA, 12-15 September 1966
Printed 1966.
Vintage chromogenic print on fibre-based Kodak paper [NASA image S-66-54454].
Numbered "NASA S-66-54454" in red in the top margin, with NASA caption and "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
LIFE magazine titled this iconic photo: "SPACE COWBOY'S GALLOP OVER THE GLOBE" (LIFE, September 30, 1966, p.106). High above Earth during Gemini XI, Richard Gordon is seen moving forward to attach a 100-foot Dacron tether from the Agena target vehicle, visible directly in front of him, to the spacecraft. This dramatic moment was captured by a movie camera mounted over the open hatch of the spacecraft.
"This photograph shows me astride the nose of the Gemini spacecraft during the umbilical EVA of Gemini XI. This pose inspired Pete Conrad to respond with the words, 'Ride 'em, cowboy!'"
— Richard Gordon (Cortright, p.182)
Printed 1966.
Vintage chromogenic print on fibre-based Kodak paper [NASA image S-66-54454].
Numbered "NASA S-66-54454" in red in the top margin, with NASA caption and "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
LIFE magazine titled this iconic photo: "SPACE COWBOY'S GALLOP OVER THE GLOBE" (LIFE, September 30, 1966, p.106). High above Earth during Gemini XI, Richard Gordon is seen moving forward to attach a 100-foot Dacron tether from the Agena target vehicle, visible directly in front of him, to the spacecraft. This dramatic moment was captured by a movie camera mounted over the open hatch of the spacecraft.
"This photograph shows me astride the nose of the Gemini spacecraft during the umbilical EVA of Gemini XI. This pose inspired Pete Conrad to respond with the words, 'Ride 'em, cowboy!'"
— Richard Gordon (Cortright, p.182)
Footnotes
The photo was taken during the spacecraft's 16th orbit, 160 nautical miles above the Atlantic Ocean. Although Gordon's EVA was cut short due to exhaustion and sweat blinding his right eye, he successfully attached the tether, its most crucial task.
Literature
LIFE, 30 September 1966, p. 106
Space: A History of Space Exploration in Photographs, Chaikin, p. 70
Exploring Space with a Camera (NASA SP-168), Cortright, ed., p. 182
Watch more
CLICK HERE: Gemini XI (1966)
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