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![[Apollo 7] THE S-IVB STAGE AT ITS CLOSEST APPROACH, PANELS OPEN LIKE A FLOWER ABOVE EARTH Walter Cunningham, 11-22 October 1968 image 1](/_next/image.jpg?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimg1.bonhams.com%2Fimage%3Fsrc%3DImages%2Flive%2F2025-03%2F24%2F25639331-122-1.jpg&w=2400&q=75)
![[Apollo 7] THE S-IVB STAGE AT ITS CLOSEST APPROACH, PANELS OPEN LIKE A FLOWER ABOVE EARTH Walter Cunningham, 11-22 October 1968 image 2](/_next/image.jpg?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimg1.bonhams.com%2Fimage%3Fsrc%3DImages%2Flive%2F2025-03%2F24%2F25639331-122-2.jpg&w=2400&q=75)
Lot 152
[Apollo 7] THE S-IVB STAGE AT ITS CLOSEST APPROACH, PANELS OPEN LIKE A FLOWER ABOVE EARTH Walter Cunningham, 11-22 October 1968
14 – 28 April 2025, 12:00 CEST
Paris, Avenue Hoche€500 - €700
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[Apollo 7] THE S-IVB STAGE AT ITS CLOSEST APPROACH, PANELS OPEN LIKE A FLOWER ABOVE EARTH
Walter Cunningham, 11-22 October 1968
Printed 1968.
Vintage chromogenic print on fibre-based Kodak paper [NASA image AS7-3-1538].
With "A Kodak Paper" watermark on the reverse, numbered "NASA AS7-3-1538" 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 striking photograph captures the delicate beauty and precision of human-engineered spacecraft, moving at incredible speeds high above Earth.
A major objective of Apollo 7 was to demonstrate orbital rendezvous techniques using the newly designed Command and Service Module—without the aid of radar—by approaching the second stage of their Saturn IB rocket (S-IVB) in orbit.
Seen here at its closest approach as it orbited at an altitude of 125 miles over Texas, the Spacecraft Lunar Module Adapter (SLA) on the S-IVB's stage has opened like a flower, revealing a simulated docking target—the round, white disc inside the open petal-like panels—similar to the targets that would later guide astronauts during lunar docking operations.
Describing the delicate manoeuvres, Apollo 7 pilot Donn Eisele later remarked that station-keeping in space was "rather like one car overtaking another, but a car with very weak brakes and not much acceleration." (Mason, p. 144)
Printed 1968.
Vintage chromogenic print on fibre-based Kodak paper [NASA image AS7-3-1538].
With "A Kodak Paper" watermark on the reverse, numbered "NASA AS7-3-1538" 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 striking photograph captures the delicate beauty and precision of human-engineered spacecraft, moving at incredible speeds high above Earth.
A major objective of Apollo 7 was to demonstrate orbital rendezvous techniques using the newly designed Command and Service Module—without the aid of radar—by approaching the second stage of their Saturn IB rocket (S-IVB) in orbit.
Seen here at its closest approach as it orbited at an altitude of 125 miles over Texas, the Spacecraft Lunar Module Adapter (SLA) on the S-IVB's stage has opened like a flower, revealing a simulated docking target—the round, white disc inside the open petal-like panels—similar to the targets that would later guide astronauts during lunar docking operations.
Describing the delicate manoeuvres, Apollo 7 pilot Donn Eisele later remarked that station-keeping in space was "rather like one car overtaking another, but a car with very weak brakes and not much acceleration." (Mason, p. 144)
Footnotes
From the mission transcript when the photograph was taken:
003:09:18 Cunningham: There is quite a small type debris still inside the S-IVB. Is that Go? [Long pause.]
003:09:29 Stafford (Mission Control): Roger. Copied that.
003:09:31 Cunningham: Seems to be coming out. That's probably the vent.
003:09:38 Stafford: Okay. [Long pause.]
003:10:32 Cunningham: All the internal structure looks just fine. There is one set of cords that's running around - one set of cords running around that seems to be going to a panel that didn't open too far.
003:10:48 Stafford: Okay. Get some pictures.
Watch more
CLICK HERE: Apollo 7 - 16mm Onboard Film: Earth Looking Views of S-IVB
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