239 a
NASA / Unidentified Photographer

Director Rocco Petrone during preparations for liftoff at the Launch Control Center, Cape Kennedy

Apollo 9, February, 1969

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

239 b
NASA / Unidentified Photographer

Launch Control Center monitoring the countdown for liftoff

Apollo 9, March 3, 1969

Vintage gelatin silver print on fiber-based paper, 20.3 x 25.4cm (8 x 10in), with NASA HQ caption numbered “69-H-152” on the verso, two scratches at the left of image

239 c
NASA / Unidentified Photographer

Russell Schweickart, James McDivitt and David Scott preparing for launch

Apollo 9, March 3, 1969

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

239 d
NASA / Unidentified Photographer

The Saturn V rocket heading to space

Apollo 9, March 3, 1969

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 versos, the second with NASA KSC caption on the verso
20.3 x 25.4cm (8 x 10in)

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Lot Essay

239 a
“Rocco Petrone, Director, Launch Operations at the Kennedy Space Center, monitors console in the Spaceport’s Launch Control Center during a recent countdown demonstration test” (NASA caption).

239 b
“All the preparation, all the simulations, all the reviews are now behind. The day has finally come. It’s countdown time. You hear and feel the power of these engines. And then you start slowly up, not with a rush, but majestically, almost defiantly. The ingenuity and determination of technology in breaking another barrier - gravity - are manifest, with you as the ultimate witness,” wrote Russell Schweickart (Kelley, preface).

239 c
These three photographs taken on launch day show Russell Schweickart adjusting microphones in his spacesuit helmet liner (first photograph); David Scott undergoing spacesuit integrity checks (second photograph); James McDivitt (background) and Russell Schweickart preparing to enter spacecraft in the closeout room, 320 feet above the spaceport’s Launch Complex 39A (third photograph).

They are preparing to be launched into Earth orbit to verify the Lunar Module spacecraft for future manned lunar voyages.

“None of us will forget that morning (or afternoon) of launch. How ordinary it seemed; like any other in so many ways. And yet so different! You go around in two pieces, one piece of you doing all the ordinary things that need to be done, and the other, watching with a sense of unreality, disconnected. Until getting into the spacecraft. Then it becomes real,” wrote Schweickart (Kelley, preface).

239 d
The Apollo 9 (Spacecraft 104/Lunar Module 3/ Saturn 504) space vehicle was launched from Pad A, Launch Complex 39, Kennedy Space Center (KSC) at 11 a.m. (EST) (16:00:00 GMT), March 3, 1969 (first photograph).

The second photograph of Saturn V’s early moments of flight was taken by a 70mm ALOTS tracking camera mounted in an NKC-135 aircraft flying at 40,000 feet. ALOTS stands for Airborne Lightweight Optical System.