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Lot 98
[Gemini VIII] THE FIRST SATELLITE PHOTOGRAPHED FROM SPACE BY HUMANS: Agena Target Vehicle Over Earth Before History's First Docking David Scott, 16-17 March 1966
14 – 28 April 2025, 12:00 CEST
Paris, Avenue HocheSold for €640 inc. premium
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[Gemini VIII] THE FIRST SATELLITE PHOTOGRAPHED FROM SPACE BY HUMANS: Agena Target Vehicle Over Earth Before History's First Docking
David Scott, 16-17 March 1966
Printed 1966.
Vintage chromogenic print on fibre-based Kodak paper [NASA image S-66-25780].
Numbered "S-66-25780" in red in the top margin, with "A KODAK PAPER" watermark on the reverse (issued by NASA Manned Spacecraft Centre, Houston, Texas).
20.3 x 25.4 cm. (8 x 10 in.)
Historical context
David Scott captured this stunning photograph of the Agena Target Docking Vehicle from 55 feet away as Neil Armstrong piloted Gemini VIII for the first docking of two spacecraft in orbit. Highlighted by the Sun, Agena appears to hang motionless against the blue backdrop of Earth. Armstrong described it as the first unmanned satellite successfully photographed from space.
Shortly after, Gemini VIII completed history's first space docking, a critical milestone for future Moon landings. The triumph quickly turned into a dangerous emergency when a spacecraft failure threatened the astronauts' lives. The crew performed an emergency undocking and safely returned to Earth, demonstrating NASA's ability to respond to crises in space.
Printed 1966.
Vintage chromogenic print on fibre-based Kodak paper [NASA image S-66-25780].
Numbered "S-66-25780" in red in the top margin, with "A KODAK PAPER" watermark on the reverse (issued by NASA Manned Spacecraft Centre, Houston, Texas).
20.3 x 25.4 cm. (8 x 10 in.)
Historical context
David Scott captured this stunning photograph of the Agena Target Docking Vehicle from 55 feet away as Neil Armstrong piloted Gemini VIII for the first docking of two spacecraft in orbit. Highlighted by the Sun, Agena appears to hang motionless against the blue backdrop of Earth. Armstrong described it as the first unmanned satellite successfully photographed from space.
Shortly after, Gemini VIII completed history's first space docking, a critical milestone for future Moon landings. The triumph quickly turned into a dangerous emergency when a spacecraft failure threatened the astronauts' lives. The crew performed an emergency undocking and safely returned to Earth, demonstrating NASA's ability to respond to crises in space.
Footnotes
The photograph was taken using a Hasselblad 500C camera and Eastman Kodak Ektachrome MS (S.O. 217) film as the spacecraft orbited over the Pacific Ocean off the west coast of Mexico. An eight-foot L-band radar antenna rises just aft of the docking cone, which was designed to receive Gemini VIII's nose.
"This Agena target vehicle was the first unmanned satellite successfully photographed from space. It clearly indicates the detail in which one satellite can be observed from another. The photographs are a particularly good replica of the actual view seen with the eye, with the exception of the brilliance of the white and metallic parts of the Agena, never yet captured on film."
—Neil Armstrong (Cortright, p. 172)
From the mission transcript when the photograph was taken:
005:53:56 Scott: Boy: Look at that sucker!
005:54:06 Scott: That's beautiful!
005:54:07 Armstrong: See the dipole?
005:54:08 Scott: Do I ever: I'll say I see everything on that fellow!
005:56:23 Armstrong: Flight Houston, this is Gemini VIII. We're Station-keeping on the Agena at about 150 feet.
005:56:35 Scott: Yaw left ... That's good.
005:56:42 Scott: Right. Now I'll get a better picture.
005:56:47 Scott: Got the Spot Meter over there anywhere handy?
005:56:50 Armstrong: ... It's supposed to be at the back of the box here.
005:56:57 Scott: Okay. Stay on the Agena. Don't sweat this one. We'll be around for a long time yet.
Watch more
CLICK HERE: Gemini 8 | First Docking Of Two Vehicles In Space
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