Dominique Ciccolella
Sale Coordinator and Expert Liaison
This auction has ended. View lot details
You may also be interested in
![[Gemini VII] "BEAT ARMY": Gemini VI-A crew holding a sign in the window during the first rendezvous in space Frank Borman or James Lovell, December 4-18, 1965 image 1](/_next/image.jpg?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimg1.bonhams.com%2Fimage%3Fsrc%3DImages%2Flive%2F2025-03%2F24%2F25639331-74-1.jpg&w=2400&q=75)
![[Gemini VII] "BEAT ARMY": Gemini VI-A crew holding a sign in the window during the first rendezvous in space Frank Borman or James Lovell, December 4-18, 1965 image 2](/_next/image.jpg?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimg1.bonhams.com%2Fimage%3Fsrc%3DImages%2Flive%2F2025-03%2F24%2F25639331-74-3.jpg&w=2400&q=75)
![[Gemini VII] "BEAT ARMY": Gemini VI-A crew holding a sign in the window during the first rendezvous in space Frank Borman or James Lovell, December 4-18, 1965 image 3](/_next/image.jpg?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimg1.bonhams.com%2Fimage%3Fsrc%3DImages%2Flive%2F2025-03%2F24%2F25639331-74-2.jpg&w=2400&q=75)
Lot 95
[Gemini VII] "BEAT ARMY": Gemini VI-A crew holding a sign in the window during the first rendezvous in space Frank Borman or James Lovell, December 4-18, 1965
14 – 28 April 2025, 12:00 CEST
Paris, Avenue HocheSold for €256 inc. premium
Looking for a similar item?
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 specialistAsk about this lot
Sabine Cornette de Saint Cyr
Head of Department
Chloe Mayot
Senior Cataloguer
Marion Richard
Specialist
[Gemini VII] "BEAT ARMY": Gemini VI-A crew holding a sign in the window during the first rendezvous in space
Frank Borman or James Lovell, December 4-18, 1965
Printed 1965.
Vintage chromogenic print on fibre-based Kodak paper [NASA image S-65-64040].
With "A Kodak Paper" watermark on the reverse, numbered "NASA S-65-64040" in red in the top margin (issued by NASA Manned Spacecraft Centre, Houston, Texas).
20.3 x 25.4cm. (8 x 10in.)
Historical context
The famous 'Beat Army' close-up of Gemini VII during history's first space rendezvous—a critical milestone for the planned lunar missions of Project Apollo, symbolizing the extraordinary precision of spacecraft maneuvering at 17,000 mph. Gemini VI-A and VII were maneuvered, as Schirra later described, "window to window and nose to nose," close enough for the astronauts to wave at each other through the portholes and for Schirra to display a playful "Beat Army" sign—aimed in jest at Borman, the sole West Point graduate among the three Navy pilots aboard the two spacecraft.
Printed 1965.
Vintage chromogenic print on fibre-based Kodak paper [NASA image S-65-64040].
With "A Kodak Paper" watermark on the reverse, numbered "NASA S-65-64040" in red in the top margin (issued by NASA Manned Spacecraft Centre, Houston, Texas).
20.3 x 25.4cm. (8 x 10in.)
Historical context
The famous 'Beat Army' close-up of Gemini VII during history's first space rendezvous—a critical milestone for the planned lunar missions of Project Apollo, symbolizing the extraordinary precision of spacecraft maneuvering at 17,000 mph. Gemini VI-A and VII were maneuvered, as Schirra later described, "window to window and nose to nose," close enough for the astronauts to wave at each other through the portholes and for Schirra to display a playful "Beat Army" sign—aimed in jest at Borman, the sole West Point graduate among the three Navy pilots aboard the two spacecraft.
Footnotes
"They were talking in terms of feet, but we were closer, six to eight inches. That's how deftly the spacecraft could be controlled."
Walter Schirra (Schick and Van Haaften, p. 50)
Literature
LIFE, 7 January 1969, pp. 30-31
Watch more
CLICK HERE: Proud Conquest GEMINI VI & VII (1965) - NASA documentary - First Spacecraft Rendezvous - Jim Lovell
Additional information
Bid now on these items
