NASA
GEMINI IV mission
First photograph of a spacecraft in space.
Vintage print on "A Kodak Paper", numbered NASA (S-65-30550) in red in the upper margin. Printed caption NASA-MSC on back.
Dated June 3, 1965.
25.5 x 20.5 cm with margins.
Marginal handling marks.
Gemini Titan IV (GT-4) was the second crewed mission of the Gemini program. James McDivitt and Edward White successfully completed the 4-day, 62-orbit flight between June 3 and 7, 1965.
Only a few weeks before liftoff, the mission program was revised to include the first spacewalk (EVA - Extra-Vehicular Activity) by an American astronaut; a direct response to the success of cosmonaut Alexei Leonov, who performed the first EVA on March 18, 1965.
On this occasion, White remained outside the spacecraft for 23 minutes.
This photograph is the first image taken of a spacecraft in orbit. It was taken by Ed White during his EVA, using a Zeiss Contrarex 35 mm camera mounted above his Hand-Held Maneuvering Unit.
Radio transcript:
04:36:02 White: I feel just about like a ..... commercial.
04:36:03 Capcom (Mission Control): Is he taking pictures?
04:36:11 Capcom: Take some pictures.
04:36:12 White: Okay. I'm going to work on getting some pictures, Jim.
[...]
04:36:33 White: But I want to get out and shoot some good pictures. I'm not satisfied with that.
[...]
04:37:47 McDivitt: Okay, do you want me to maneuver for you now, Ed?
04:37:50 White: No, I think you're doing fine. What I'd like to do is get all the way out, Jim, and get a picture of the whole spacecraft. I don't seem to be doing that.
04:38:00 McDivitt: Yes, I noticed that. You can't seem to get far enough away.
[...]
04:41:10 White: Okay, I'm going to free drift a little bit, and see if I can drift into some good picture-taking position.
04:41:16 McDivitt: Okay. Here, let me control the
spacecraft .....
04:41:10 White: Okay, I'm going to free drift a little bit, and see if I can drift into some good picture-taking position.
04:41:16 McDivitt: Okay. Here, let me control the
spacecraft .....
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