493 a
Taken by a TV camera inside the Kitty Hawk spacecraft

Zero Gravity experiment conducted during the homeward journey to Earth

Apollo 14, January 31 - February 9, 1971

Vintage gelatin silver print on fiber-based paper, 20.3 x 25.4cm (8 x 10in), with NASA MSC caption on the verso, numbered “NASA S-71-21318” in black in top margin

493 b
NASA / Unidentified Photographer

The spacecraft Kitty Hawk landing in the Pacific Ocean

Apollo 14, February 9, 1971

Vintage chromogenic print on fiber-based Kodak paper, 20.3 x 25.4cm (8 x 10in), with NASA MSC caption and “A Kodak Paper” watermarks on the verso, numbered “NASA S-71-18753” in red in top margin

493 c
NASA / Unidentified Photographer

The Apollo 14 crew back to Earth aboard USS New Orleans

Apollo 14, February 9, 1971

Two vintage gelatin silver prints on fiber-based paper, each 20.3 x 25.4cm (8 x 10in), with NASA KSC captions on the versos

493 d
NASA / Unidentified Photographer

The giant Saturn V rocket on Pad 39A

Apollo 14, November 1970

Large-format presentation vintage chromogenic print on fiber-based Kodak paper, 35.5cm x 27.7cm (14 x 11in), with “Acme Photo Service” stamp and “A Kodak Paper” watermarks on the verso
35.5cm x 27.7cm (14 x 11in)

493 b
Jacobs, p.97.

This lot will be removed to Christie’s Park Royal. Christie’s will inform you if the lot has been sent offsite. Our removal and storage of the lot is subject to the terms and conditions of storage which can be found at Christies.com/storage and our fees for storage are set out in the table below - these will apply whether the lot remains with Christie’s or is removed elsewhere. Please call Christie’s Client Service 24 hours in advance to book a collection time at Christie’s Park Royal. All collections from Christie’s Park Royal will be by pre-booked appointment only. Tel: +44 (0)20 7839 9060 Email: cscollectionsuk@christies.com. If the lot remains at Christie’s it will be available for collection on any working day 9.00 am to 5.00 pm. Lots are not available for collection at weekends.
Please note this lot is the property of a consumer. See H1 of the Conditions of Sale.

Conditions of Sale
FAQs
This lot is offered by Christie Manson & Woods Ltd

Brought to you by

Lot Essay

493 a
A B&W still from a color TV transmission.

“Once we were on our way back to Earth, we did a series of four experiments in weightlessness. [...] Finally, we did some fluid transfer experiments, simply trying to pour a fluid from one container to another in zero gravity. The surface tension works against you there, and so it was much easier when the containers being used were equipped with baffles that the fluid could cling to, as it were,” noted Alan Shepard (NASA SP-350, p. 242).

493 b
The Apollo 14 Command Module descended into the south Pacific on February 9, 1971. The splashdown occurred at 3:04:39 p.m. (CST), Feb. 9, 1971, approximately 765 nautical miles south of American Samoa in the South Pacific after a successful ten-day lunar landing mission. The three crew men were flown by helicopter to the USS New Orleans prime recovery ship.

493 c
The crew during welcoming ceremonies aboard USS Orleans after being flown by helicopter following splashdown in the Pacific Ocean (first photograph) and speaking to personel of the prime recovery vessel through the window of the Mobile Quarantine Facility (second photograph).

Apollo 14 was the last crew to be quarantined.

“There’s probably a sense of pride, more than anything, and then you really got on the carrier: We did it. We did it well.”
Stuart Roosa (Chaikin, Voices, p.133)

493 d
A wide angle view of Launch complex 39, Kennedy Space Center (KSC), showing the Apollo 14 (Spacecraft 110/Lunar Module 8/Saturn 509) space vehicle with the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) in the background.

The Saturn V stack and its mobile launch tower, atop a huge crawler-transporter, were rolled out to Pad A.