142 a
Richard Gordon

Earth from space; fog over the Peruvian Pacific coast

Gemini XI, September 12-15, 1966, orbit 34, 053:41:00 GET

Unreleased photograph, vintage chromogenic print on fiber-based Kodak paper, 20.3 x 25.4cm (8 x 10in), with “A Kodak Paper” watermarks on the verso, numbered “NASA S-66-54832” (NASA MSC) in red in top margin

142 b
Richard Gordon

The untethered Agena floating over the Earth

Gemini XI, September 12-15, 1966, post orbit 34

Unreleased photograph, vintage chromogenic print on fiber-based Kodak paper, 20.3 x 25.4cm (8 x10in), with “A Kodak Paper” watermarks on the verso, numbered “NASA S-66-54584” (NASA MSC) in red in top margin

142 c
Richard Gordon

The disconnected Agena Target Docking Vehicle over the Earth

Gemini XI, September 12-15, 1966, post orbit 34

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-66-54585” in red in top margin

142 d
NASA / Unidentified Photographer

Richard Gordon and Pete Conrad exiting the spacecraft after their perfect splashdown in the Western Atlantic

Gemini XI, September 15, 1966

Vintage gelatin silver print on fiber-based paper, 20.3 x 25.4cm (8 x 10in), with RCA Quality Control stamp and NASA HQ caption numbered “66-H-1213” on the verso

142 e
Andrew Patnesky

Congratulations in Mission Control

Gemini XI, September 15, 1966

Vintage chromogenic print on fiber-based Kodak paper, 20.3 x 25.4cm (8 x 10in), with “A Kodak Paper” watermarks on the verso, numbered “NASA S-66-52744” (NASA MSC) in red in top margin, with three filing holes in top margin
20.3 x 25.4cm (8 x 10in)

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Lot Essay

142 a
The fog hugs the coast of Peru in this photograph taken with the Maurer space camera and its 80mm lens.

“Low stratus clouds extended inland possibly 5 miles and cumuliform clouds covered the Andes 100 miles from the Sea in this photo of the mountains around Arequipa, Peru’s second largest city. The Rio Majes canyon in the center is a mile deep. The city is in the lower part of this view’s center, at an altitude of 7500 feet. Northeast of it, three volcanos, Misti, Chachani, and Ampato rise, respectively, 19 098, 19 931, and 20 702 feet. Snow is found on the high peaks, but Arequipa is famous for its flower gardens. Ruins of a civilization believed to have preceded that of the Incas have been found near it” (NASA SP-171, p. 185).

142 b
A great photograph taken after the 34th revolution of the Earth with the Hasselblad Super Wide camera and its 38mm lens showing the disconnected Agena with its docking cone end and the tether line loose at a distance of approximately 90 feet.

“I was very lucky with my Gemini flight. I was at the right place at the right time to get a lot of startling photographs.”
Richard Gordon (Schick and Van Haaften, p. 79)

142 c
The tether is less than eighty feet away, after it was cut loose from Gemini XI when the crew fired a small pyrotechnic charge to blow off the docking bar. The two spacecrafts were tethered for about three hours.
The photographs was taken with the Hasselblad Super Wide camera and its 38mm lens after the 34th revolution of the Earth.

142 d
Following the first computer-controlled re-entry, Gemini XI splashed down in the Western Atlantic at 9 a.m. (EST) Sept. 15, 1966, to conclude a three-day mission in space. A recovery helicopter from the USS Guam picked up the two astronauts.

“During their more than 71 hours and 44 revolutions aloft, the space twins scored several firsts, including: rendezvous and docking with an Agena target satellite during their first revolution, an altitude record of more than 850 miles and an examination of tethered vehicles, the Gemini spacecraft and Agena. Gordon performed two EVAs and both astronauts performed a number of experiments designed to examine the effects of space environment on humans” (NASA caption).

142 e
Andrew Patnesky was an official NASA photographer and a fixture in Mission Control, always carrying two Leicas (one with B&W film, the other color).

From left, Gen. Leighton Davis, USAF, DOD manager of Manned Spaceflight Support Operations; James C. Elms (center), NASA Deputy Associate Administrator; Dr. Robert R. Gilruth, MSC Director; and Jerome B. Hammack, Chief, Landing and Recovery Division, MSC are photographed in Houston’s Mission Control Center to celebrate the successful splashdown of Gemini XI.