52 a
NASA / Unidentified Photographer

Astronaut and Capcom Walter Schirra at his consol in Mercury Control Center during preflight checks

Mercury Atlas 9, May 1963

Vintage gelatin silver print on fiber-based paper, 20.3 x 25.4cm (8 x 10in), with RCA Quality Control stamp, NASA-USAF-Cape Canaveral credit stamp and NASA HQ caption numbered “63-MA9-95” on the verso

52 b
NASA / Unidentified Photographer

Gordon Cooper leaving hangar S for Pad 14 to board the Faith 7 spacecraft for his ride through space

Mercury Atlas 9, May 14 and 15, 1963

Two vintage gelatin silver prints on fiber-based paper, each 20.3 x 25.4cm (8 x 10in), the first with NASA HQcaption numbered “63-MA9-122” and NASA-USAF-Cape Canaveral stamp on the verso, the second with NASA HQ caption numbered “63-MA9-132” on the verso

52 c
NASA / Unidentified Photographer

Launch of the Atlas rocket carrying Gordon Cooper on his 22-orbit ride through space

Mercury Atlas 9, May 15, 1963, 000:00:01 and 000:00:12 GET

Two vintage chromogenic prints on fiber-based Kodak paper, each 20.3 x 25.4cm (8 x 10in), with “A Kodak Paper” watermarks on the verso, numbered “NASA S-63-7605 and S-63-7601” (NASA MSC) in black in top margin

52 d
NASA / Unidentified Photographer

Christopher Kraft, Walter Williams, Donald Slayton and Admiral Bowen discussing the flight in Mercury Control Center

Mercury Atlas 9, May 15-16, 1963

Two vintage gelatin silver prints on fiber-based paper, each 20.3 x 25.4cm (8 x 10in), the first with NASA MSC caption on the verso and numbered “NASA S-63-7860” in black in top margin, the second with NASA HQ caption numbered “63-MA9-154” and NASA-USAF-Cape Canaveral-RCA Quality Control stamp on the verso

20.3 x 25.4cm (8 x 10in)

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Lot Essay

52 a
The Cape Canaveral facility monitors Mercury capsule location and attitude, the functioning of its systems, and the astronaut’s condition on suborbital and orbital flights of NASA’s manned orbital flight program.

52 b
Mercury workers and news media are greeted by astronaut Cooper as he leaves Hangar S for Pad 14 on May 14, 1963 to start his 22-orbit mission (first photograph).

Cooper leaves the transfer van and walks pass the waiting press and Pad 14 employees to the elevator which is to take him to the top of the spacecraft ‘Faith 7’ atop the Atlas vehicle on May 15, 1963 (second photograph).

The first photograph was taken during the aborted launch of May 14 and the second the actual day of launch the next day.

52 c
Mercury Atlas 9 was launched From Cape Canaveral’s Pad 14 on May 15, 1963, at 8:04 a.m. (EST) with a perigee of 161 km and an apogee of 267 km.

0, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 0.
000:00:01 Capcom (Mission Control): Lift off.
000:00:02 Cooper: Roger. I have a lift-off and the clock is operating.
000:00:05 Capcom: Roger, clock.
000:00:07 Cooper: Sigma Seven, Faith Seven on the way. [...]
000:00:23 Cooper: And the backup clock is running.
000:00:25 Capcom: Roger. You look good here, Gordo.
000:00:27 Cooper: Roger. Feels good buddy.
000:00:29 Capcom: Good Sport.
000:00:31 Cooper: Thirty seconds, and fuel is go.
Oxygen is go. Cabin pressure on the top peg. Altimeter is working.
000:00:38 Capcom: Roger. You’re looking beautiful.
000:00:48 Cooper: What an afterburner.

52 d
Walter Williams (left), Flight Operations Director; and Christopher Kraft, Chief of the Flight Operations Division, MSC, are shown in the Mercury Control Center, Cape Canaveral, Florida (first photograph).

“Astronaut Donald Slayton (left), talks to Rear Admiral Harold Bowen, Commander of Recovery Operations in Mercury Control Center, Thursday (May 16, 1963) morning. Seated beyond Rear Admiral Bowen is MSC Public Affairs Officer John Powers, the ‘voice’ of Mercury Control” (NASA caption, second photograph).

The decision to go for the full 22 orbits was made for the mission.