121 a
Thomas Stafford or Eugene Cernan

The jaws of the Angry Alligator

Gemini IX-A, June 3-6, 1966, orbit 15, 022:44:00 GET

Vintage chromogenic print on fiber-based Kodak paper, 20.3 x 25.4cm (8 x 10in), with “A Kodak Paper” watermarks on the verso, numbered “NASA S-66-38159” (NASA MSC) in red in top margin

121 b
Eugene Cernan

The Angry Alligator pointing toward the Earth

Gemini IX-A, June 3-6, 1966, orbit 15, 022:47:00 GET

Vintage chromogenic print on fiber-based Kodak paper, 20.3 x 25.4cm (8 x 10in), with “A Kodak Paper” watermarks on the verso, numbered “NASA S-66-37966” (NASA MSC) in red in top margin
20.3 x 25.4cm (8 x 10in)

121 b
Mason, p. 114.

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Lot Essay

121 a
Close-up of the Augmented Target Docking Adapter (ATDA), shroud view, photographed with the Maurer space camera and its 80mm lens at a range of 23 feet against the dark background of space, with a small portion of the horizon at the bottom left, during the third rendezvous over the Earth.

022:42:51 Stafford: Roger, Canary. We’re about 3 feet away from the Monster taking some pictures. Go ahead.
022:42:55 Capcom (Mission Control): Okay. We’d like for you to do a 3-foot-per-second Retrograde Maneuver at your convenience and give us the time, please.
022:43:03 Stafford: Roger. We’re still snapping pictures.
022:43:06 Capcom: Okay. We’re standing by. All systems look good.
022:43:16 Cernan: Except the one we’re taking a picture of.

121 b
A fantastic view of the Augmented Target Docking Adapter (ATDA), side view, photographed with the Hasselblad 500C and its 80mm lens from an altitude of about 300 km at a range of 38 feet during the third rendezvous over the Earth.

“We were hoping not to see that shroud at all. Every time we activated that docking target, the collar that we were to dock with, it would relieve tension on that band and the jaws would open and close.”
Eugene Cernan (Schick and Van Haaften, p. 61)