Gordon Cooper (American, 1927-2004)

Description:

Gordon Cooper (American, 1927-2004)
Earth taken with the first Hasselblad camera used in space, Mercury-Atlas 9, May 15, 1963. NASA-USAF caption and RCA stamp on the verso. Vintage chromogenic print on fiber-based Kodak paper with 'A Kodak Paper' watermark on the verso, image size 7 1/2 x 7 1/2 in. (18.9 x 18.9 cm),unmatted.
Condition: Slight yellowing to sheet.

N.B. Walter Schirra's experiments on Mercury-Atlas 8 paved the way for Gordon Cooper's use of the NASA-modified Hasselblad camera in space. His longer flight (22 orbits) allowed him to carefully frame his photographs. "I was the first pilot to go off stabilization systems and go where I wanted,' stated Cooper, 'so I made lots of pictures." His film was the first by an astronaut to be analyzed and described frame by frame by NASA, in effect launching the agency's photographic technology department in Houston. He recalled a NASA memo stating that: ''If an astronaut desires, he may carry a camera.' That's the importance they gave to photography... It was great to be able to bring home some of those images to people who couldn't be up there in orbit and see those kind of things. I think NASA finally swung around to realizing the importance of photography; even the diehards finally came around, admitting it had about the greatest impact of anything going" (Gordon Cooper quoted in Schick and Van Haaften, pp. 26-30).
Estimate $600-800


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