193 a
Bill Taub

Portraits of the astronauts in spacesuit

Apollo 7, September 1968

Three vintage gelatin silver prints on fiber-based paper, each 20.3 x 25.4cm (8 x 10in), with NASA KSC captions and Technicolor Quality Control stamps on the versos

193 b
NASA / Unidentified Photographer

George Low with Kurt Debus and Rocco Petrone at the Launch Control’s blockhouse at Complex 34 at Cape Kennedy

Apollo 7, October 1968

Vintage gelatin silver print on fiber-based paper, 20.3 x 25.4cm (8 x 10in), with Technicolor Quality Control stamp and NASA KSC caption numbered “116- KSC-68P-383” on the verso

193 c
NASA / Unidentified Photographer

Overall view of the Saturn IB rocket at Pad 34 and close-up of the spacecraft and launch escape system

Apollo 7, September 1968

Two vintage gelatin silver prints on fiber-based paper, each 20.3 x 25.4cm (8 x 10in), with NASA HQ captions numbered “68-H-845 and “68-H-618” on the versos

193 d
NASA / Unidentified Photographer

The departure for space of the first crewed Apollo mission

Apollo 7, October 11, 1968

Vintage gelatin silver print on fiber-based paper, 20.3 x 25.4cm (8 x 10in), with NASA KSC caption numbered “68- H-927” on the verso

193 e
NASA / Unidentified Photographer

Liftoff of the Saturn IB rocket, the first manned space vehicle of the Apollo program

Apollo 7, October 11, 1968, 000:00:01 GET

Vintage chromogenic print on fiber-based Kodak paper, 20.3 x 25.4cm (8 x 10in), with NASA KSC caption numbered “107-KSC-68PC-195 and “A Kodak Paper” watermarks on the verso

193 f
NASA / Unidentified Photographer

The first manned Apollo rocket heading to space

Apollo 7, October 11, 1968, 000:00:12 GET

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-68-49457” in red in top margin
20.3 x 25.4cm (8 x 10in)

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Lot Essay

193 a
Bill Taub, NASA’s first senior photographer, photographed Walter Cunningham, Donn Eisele and Walter Schirra during a space vehicle emergency egress test at Cape Kennedy.

“The Apollo was so much more complex and difficult than any previous spacecraft that even the hard-working astronauts were nearly taxed to their limits. Twelve hundred hours were added over and above the normal training schedule. The crew prepared with intense dedication, knowing that complete mastery of their vessel was vital in case anything went wrong” (Reynolds, p. 72).

193 b
[NASA caption] Kurt Debus, left, KSC director, discusses proceedings of the Apollo 7 flight readiness test in blockhouse at Complex 34 with George Low, center, manager of the Apollo Program spacecraft office at the MSC and Rocco Petrone, launch operations director at KSC.

In August 1968 George Low proposed the bold idea to send the following Apollo 8 mission to the Moon. Apollo 7 was the crucial test before the first lunar voyage.

193 c
The Saturn IB rocket undergoes preflight checkout in preparation for Apollo’s first manned flight. The second photograph shows “the Apollo Command and Services Module (CSM) and launch escape system; to the right of the Command Module is the swingarm and white room where the three astronauts will enter before being inserted into the spacecraft” (NASA caption).

193 d
The crew leave the Manned Spacecraft Operations Building at the Kennedy Space Center and are about to enter the transfer van that will take them to Cape Kennedy’s Launch Pad 34 for liftoff. They are carrying portable pre-launch cooling units for their spacesuits.

193 e
[NASA caption] A 224-foot-high Saturn IB space vehicle lifted off at 11:03 a.m. EDT,October 11, 1968 from Cape Kennedy’s Launch Complex 34. The open-ended mission, scheduled to span 11 days, is designed to qualify the three-man Apollo spacecraft system for future lunar voyages planned by NASA. The launch vehicle generated a liftoff thrust of 1.6 million pounds and will insert its payload into an Earth orbit ranging from 123-by-153 nautical miles. Splashdown is planned to take place at the end of the 164th revolution in the Atlantic Ocean, about 200 nautical miles south southwest of Bermuda.

193 f
[NASA caption] Command and Service Module 101 atop Saturn IB 205 rises into the florida sky from KSC Launch Complex 34 at 10:02:45 CDT on 11 October 1968.

Apollo 7 is the first of several manned flights aimed at qualifying the spacecraft for the half-million-mile round trip to the moon.