
Dominique Ciccolella
Sale Coordinator and Expert Liaison
This auction has ended. View lot details
![[Project Apollo] THE LEGENDARY NEW NINE: portrait of NASA's second group of astronauts NASA, September 1962 image 1](/_next/image.jpg?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimg1.bonhams.com%2Fimage%3Fsrc%3DImages%2Flive%2F2025-03%2F24%2F25639331-32-1.jpg&w=2400&q=75)
![[Project Apollo] THE LEGENDARY NEW NINE: portrait of NASA's second group of astronauts NASA, September 1962 image 2](/_next/image.jpg?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimg1.bonhams.com%2Fimage%3Fsrc%3DImages%2Flive%2F2025-03%2F24%2F25639331-32-2.jpg&w=2400&q=75)
€400 - €600
Our Post-War and Contemporary Art specialists can help you find a similar item at an auction or via a private sale.
Find your local specialist
Sale Coordinator and Expert Liaison

Head of Department

Senior Cataloguer

Specialist
While the Mercury Seven were chosen to accomplish orbital flight, the Gemini program's complex objectives—such as rendezvous and lunar landing—necessitated candidates with advanced engineering degrees (four of the Nine) in addition to test pilot experience. The New Nine also introduced the first civilian test pilots to the astronaut corps: Elliot See, who had flown for General Electric, and Neil Armstrong, who piloted the X-15 research plane for NASA. Lovell and Conrad were initially candidates for the Mercury Seven but were not selected at the time.