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Lot 118
[Gemini XI] THE RECORD-HIGH ORBITAL VIEW OF THE EARLY SPACE AGE: sunlit Australia from 740 nautical miles Richard Gordon, 12-15 September 1966
14 – 28 April 2025, 12:00 CEST
Paris, Avenue HocheSold for €307.20 inc. premium
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[Gemini XI] THE RECORD-HIGH ORBITAL VIEW OF THE EARLY SPACE AGE: sunlit Australia from 740 nautical miles
Richard Gordon, 12-15 September 1966
Printed 1966.
Vintage chromogenic print on fibre-based Kodak paper [NASA image S-66-54706].
With NASA caption and "A Kodak Paper" watermark on the reverse, numbered "NASA S-66-54706" in red in the top margin (issued by NASA Manned Spacecraft Centre, Houston, Texas).
20.3 x 25.4 cm. (8 x 10 in.)
Historical context
This historic photograph captures the illuminated western half of Australia, from Perth to Port Darwin, with the ocean above, as seen from Gemini XI's record-breaking apogee. This never-before-seen view "around the top of the world" left the astronauts in awe (see mission transcript).
"The Sun was slowly settling into the west, causing an angular reflection in the glass window of the spacecraft. Dick Gordon and I were looking at western Australia. This picture was taken approximately when we reached the high point of our high-altitude orbit. We were excited, and although we had planned the high orbit for months, we never realized what a sight we would see."
— Pete Conrad (Cortright, p. 195)
Printed 1966.
Vintage chromogenic print on fibre-based Kodak paper [NASA image S-66-54706].
With NASA caption and "A Kodak Paper" watermark on the reverse, numbered "NASA S-66-54706" in red in the top margin (issued by NASA Manned Spacecraft Centre, Houston, Texas).
20.3 x 25.4 cm. (8 x 10 in.)
Historical context
This historic photograph captures the illuminated western half of Australia, from Perth to Port Darwin, with the ocean above, as seen from Gemini XI's record-breaking apogee. This never-before-seen view "around the top of the world" left the astronauts in awe (see mission transcript).
"The Sun was slowly settling into the west, causing an angular reflection in the glass window of the spacecraft. Dick Gordon and I were looking at western Australia. This picture was taken approximately when we reached the high point of our high-altitude orbit. We were excited, and although we had planned the high orbit for months, we never realized what a sight we would see."
— Pete Conrad (Cortright, p. 195)
Footnotes
The photograph was taken with the Hasselblad Super Wide camera and its 38mm lens from an altitude of 740 nautical miles. The crew achieved this record-breaking height by igniting the Agena rocket engine for the longest burn ever conducted to change an orbit.
From the mission transcript when the photograph was taken:
041:04:36 Conrad: I'll tell you, you can't believe it!
041:04:42 Conrad: Just out of my left window I can see all the way from - -
041:04:47 Conrad: - - the end, around the top of the world all the way around about 150 degrees, including the horizon all the way around.
Literature
LIFE, 30 September 1966, pp. 104-105
Exploring Space with a Camera (NASA SP-168), Cortright, ed., p. 195
Watch more
CLICK HERE: Gemini XI (1966)
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