James McDivitt

First US Spacewalk; Ed White’s EVA over the Gulf of Mexico

Gemini IV, June 3-7, 1965, orbit 3, 004:44:00 GET

Large-format presentation vintage chromogenic print on fiber-based Kodak paper, 28 x 35.5cm (11 x 14in), with “A Kodak Paper” watermarks on the verso (NASA MSC) [NASA S-65-30429], from the personal collection of Ed White
28 x 35.5cm (11 x 14in)

The personal collection of Ed White, Heritage Auctions, Space Exploration Signature Auction, Dallas, November 2, 2012, Sale 6082, Lot 40031.

Schick and Van Haaften, cover and p. 35; Chaikin, Space, p. 59; Light, plate 13.

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Lot Essay

“McDivitt’s pictures of Ed White floating in space created a sensation and remain among the most compelling images produced in space. McDivitt portrayed the expansive freedom of man in space so lyrically that it is easy to understand why Edward White had to be coaxed back into the confinement of his spacecraft. Ed White’s death two years later in the fatal Apollo 1 fire has given the photographs added poignancy” (Schick and van Haaften, p. 32).

“Ed was on a long string, so to speak, and when he’d get out to the end of the line the tension in it slowed him down, then pulled him back toward the point where the spacecraft was fastened. As he was floating away from the spacecraft and as he moved around I could look out the hatch and see him against the background of the Earth. That was rather impressive,” recalled McDivitt (Schick and Van Haaften, p. 35).

“As he was floating away from the spacecraft and as he moved around I could look out the hatch and see him against the background of the Earth. That was rather impressive.”
James McDivitt