Space Mission
Gemini V, August 21-29, 1965, orbit 3-4
Photographer
Gordon Cooper
Photo Description
Vintage chromogenic print on fiber-based Kodak paper, 20.3 x 25.4cm (8 x 10in), “A Kodak Paper” watermarks on the verso, numbered “NASA S-65-45683” in red in top margin
20.3 x 25.4cm (8 x 10in)
Essay
This beautiful portrait from space (the second ever taken after Ed White’s portrait by James McDvitt on Gemini IV) was taken between the third and four orbits of the spacecraft. In the foreground, a 16mm camera floats in the zero-g environment of the spacecraft.
“I don’t remember that Pete took any of me, but I remember taking several of him. You had to get the light just right, streaming through the window. We didn’t talk about it, but I guess I was kind of keen, hoping for picture potential.”