Tremendous archive of over 1,500 official NASA photo negatives, transparencies, and prints documenting the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo space programs during the 1960s and early 1970s. The majority of these photos, approximately 4 x 5 and 5 x 4, are housed in their original manila NASA photo lab pouch with captions and annotations denoting tracking number, mission information, participant name(s), and date. Consisting of numerous candid and staged images never-before-viewed by the public, the collection focuses greatest on Project Gemini, a program designed to develop and implement space travel techniques capable of supporting Project Apollo’s objective of landing astronauts on the Moon; running from 1961 to 1966 and featuring two unmanned flights (Gemini 1 and 2) and 10 two-crew manned flights (Gemini 3-12), NASA’s hugely successful sophomore program is exhaustively covered with an array of behind-the-scenes moments offering a unique window into the lives of NASA’s most storied explorers.
Documenting the intensity and scope of America’s three-headed space program, the photographs include astronauts undergoing pre- and post-flight medical testing, as well as simulations that tested performance in zero-gravity chambers and centrifuges. Of considerable interest is the large assortment of photos documenting the Jungle Survival School, a summer training course in the Panamanian jungle in 1963 and 1967, where astronauts were trained to build shelters, find food and water, and identify venomous snakes. The archive also features a wealth of images recording the laborious process of flight preparation, such as suit and equipment tests, insertion, and egress and recovery procedure, with photos also offering a glimpse into more mundane routines, like individual and team portraits, preflight breakfast, and relaxing in the White Room lounge chairs. Amazing images of liftoff, the Earth, and the desolate lunar surface are also distinct highlights of the collection.
Astronauts featured in the archive include (alphabetical): Buzz Aldrin, Neil Armstrong, Frank Borman, Scott Carpenter, Gene Cernan, Michael Collins, Charles Conrad, Walt Cunningham, Dick Gordon, Gus Grissom, Jim Irwin, James Lovell, Jim McDivitt, Edgar Mitchell, Wally Schirra, Dave Scott, Alan Shepard, Tom Stafford, Deke Slayton, Jack Swigert, Ed White II, and John Young. In overall fine condition. A truly sensational photographic archive documenting the golden age of space discovery.
