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Lot 150
[Apollo 7] CAPE KENNEDY SEEN THROUGH THE 'PETALS' OF THE SATURN S-IVB STAGE: Walter Schirra's favorite photograph Walter Cunningham, 11-22 October 1968
14 – 28 April 2025, 12:00 CEST
Paris, Avenue HocheSold for €537.60 inc. premium
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[Apollo 7] CAPE KENNEDY SEEN THROUGH THE 'PETALS' OF THE SATURN S-IVB STAGE: Walter Schirra's favorite photograph
Walter Cunningham, 11-22 October 1968
Printed 1968.
Vintage chromogenic print on fibre-based Kodak paper [NASA AS7-3-1545].
Numbered "NASA AS7-3-1545" in red in the top margin, with "A Kodak Paper" watermark on the reverse (issued by NASA Manned Spacecraft Centre, Houston, Texas).
25.4 x 20.3 cm. (10 x 8 in.)
Historical context
This famous Apollo 7 photograph beautifully illustrates the mission's major objective which was to rendezvous with the second stage of their Saturn booster (SIVB). The photograph showcases the likeness of astronauts for composed images as Cunningham remarked while taking the picture: "We're looking right down at the Cape. We can get a picture of it in the background."
The Spacecraft Lunar Module Adapter (SLA) on the S-IVB is open like a giant flower during the simulated docking, seen at a distance of 100 feet. Behind the SLA panels is the Gulf of Mexico.
"Probably my favourite picture is of Cape Canaveral shown through the petals of the SIVB. Cunningham took the picture but I had to fly the Apollo Command Module to get in position so he could sight down between the petals and see Cape Canaveral in the background."
Walter Schirra (Schick and Van Haaften, p. 89)
Printed 1968.
Vintage chromogenic print on fibre-based Kodak paper [NASA AS7-3-1545].
Numbered "NASA AS7-3-1545" in red in the top margin, with "A Kodak Paper" watermark on the reverse (issued by NASA Manned Spacecraft Centre, Houston, Texas).
25.4 x 20.3 cm. (10 x 8 in.)
Historical context
This famous Apollo 7 photograph beautifully illustrates the mission's major objective which was to rendezvous with the second stage of their Saturn booster (SIVB). The photograph showcases the likeness of astronauts for composed images as Cunningham remarked while taking the picture: "We're looking right down at the Cape. We can get a picture of it in the background."
The Spacecraft Lunar Module Adapter (SLA) on the S-IVB is open like a giant flower during the simulated docking, seen at a distance of 100 feet. Behind the SLA panels is the Gulf of Mexico.
"Probably my favourite picture is of Cape Canaveral shown through the petals of the SIVB. Cunningham took the picture but I had to fly the Apollo Command Module to get in position so he could sight down between the petals and see Cape Canaveral in the background."
Walter Schirra (Schick and Van Haaften, p. 89)
Footnotes
The photograph was taken at an altitude of about 125 nautical miles. The "petal-like" panels had not fully deployed, which would have been problematic on a mission that carried a LM, but the panels would be jettisoned explosively on future flights.
From the mission transcript when the photograph was taken:
003:15:36 Cunningham: We're looking right down at the Cape. We can get a picture of it in the background.
003:15:40 Stafford (Mission Control): Roger. You got a picture of them over the Cape in the background.
003:15:42 Cunningham: The Cape's not clear.
003:15:44 Stafford: Roger.
003:15:45 Schirra: Now it's starting to clear. [Pause.]
003:15:56 Stafford: Roger. You on top of the booster this time, Wally?
003:15:58 Schirra: Say again.
003:15:59 Stafford: You on top of the booster?
003:16:01 Cunningham: [Garble] we got some real great stuff here.
003:16:04 Stafford: Good show. Okay. In about a minute, the booster should start its retrograde manoeuvre.
003:16:10 Schirra: The booster is - engine is set up facing down toward the Atlantic Ocean - to straight down. We're pointing straight down.
Literature
TIME, 1 November 1968, p. 59
The View from Space: American Astronaut Photography, 1962–1972, Schick and Van Haaften, p. 59
Apollo: the epic journey to the Moon, Reynolds, p. 78
Watch more
CLICK HERE: Apollo 7 - 16mm Onboard Film: Earth Looking Views of S-IVB
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