During the early days of manned spaceflight, one of the most anticipated events following the conclusion of a mission was the post-flight news conference. This would be the first time the media or public had a chance to view the spectacular film footage shot during the flight. Shown in the large Teague Auditorium at the Manned Spaceflight Center (JSC) in Houston, with often hundreds of media from all over the world in attendance, the astronaut crew, flight director, and other key officials were on hand to narrate the unveiling of the still and movie footage.
This set of 26 large format (4″ x 3.25″) glass mounted color transparencies were used during the Gemini IX post-flight news conference, and showed for the first time the infamous ‘Angry Alligator’ to the world (the open Augmented Target Docking Adaptor), as well as rare interior shots of Stafford and Cernan, and several surviving shots of Cernan’s ‘EVA from Hell.’ Several slides are of duplicate images. Following the news conference, one of the A/V projectionists in the auditorium presented the slides to mission Pilot Gene Cernan. The consignor obtained the slides directly from Cernan back in the mid-1980s during one of Cernan’s famous garage cleanings.
Each slide is mounted in a thin paper frame with NASA nomenclature, sandwiched between two thin glass plates. A silver Mylar tape frame seals the slide. The slides show some discoloration and fading which is typical for the film types and chemistry used during that era, as well as a few generally unobtrusive cracks to the glass, and are still contained in the original Kodak storage boxes.
Proceeds to benefit the Stafford Air and Space Museum (SASM).
