Outstanding group of screen-used set decorations from the Oscar-winning 2018 film First Man, consisting of four true-to-life replica sections of the interior of the Gemini 8 capsule, instrument panels that were prominently featured in the film’s harrowing ‘Agena spin’ sequence with Ryan Gosling and Christopher Abbott acting as Command Pilot Neil Armstrong and Pilot Dave Scott.
The largest is the Command Pilot’s main instrument panel, approximately 20″ x 22″ x 14″, with replicated instruments including: a roll rate gauge (viewed full-screen several times), a flight director/attitude indicator (not the one used in the film, but a closely matching example), a flight director mode controller, altimeter, propulsion quantity indicator, range/rate indicator, incremental velocity indicator, stage 1 and 2 fuel/oxidizer meters, a Pre-Main 10.6K switch, longitudinal accelerometer, and maneuver controller; the panel features several large and small swatches of Velcro with two bearing affixed checklist sheets. This panel received the most screen time, and is featured repeatedly in quick close-up shots as Gosling attempts to halt the tumbling Gemini capsule.
The second panel, 13.5″ x 12″ x 3.25″, located to the immediate left of Gosling during the scene, features a row of three bars over a set of 41 switches relating to the following actions or instruments: “Boost-Insert,” “Retro,” “Landing,” “Retro Rocket Squibs,” “Boost Insert,” Retro Seq.,” “Landing Seq.,” “Whip Antennas,” and more; panel bears some Velcro swatches and reverse marked “Captain’s left side.”
The third panel, 13.75″ x 12″ x 3.25″, located to the immediate right of Abbott, features a cage over four rows of 41 switches, with examples identified as “Agena Control,” “Main Batteries,” “Squib Batteries,” “Boost Inst.,” “Radar Pwr,” “Fuel Cell,” “AC Power,” “Bio med Rdcr,” Bus Tie,” and more; panel bears Velcro swatches to upper portion.
The fourth panel, 9.75″ x 11.75″ x 3″, located overhead between Gosling and Abbott, features a multi-bar cage protecting a total of 64 switches, with examples identified as “Attitude Thrusters,” “Attitude Drivers,” “Maneuver Thrusters,” “Beacons,” “Coolant Pumps,” and more; panel bears a single swatch of Velcro.
In overall fine condition, with expected wear from use; the propulsion quantity indicator is detached from panel, but is entirely capable of being reattached to main panel. Accompanied by several images of the panels as they were seen in the film. Among the most impressive modern screen-used film props we've ever offered, these four panels were painstakingly designed and assembled to accurately duplicate the pilot console of the Gemini 8 spacecraft. The incredible attention to detail put into First Man, a biopic on the life of Apollo 11 moonwalker Neil Armstrong, was recognized with four Academy Award nominations—Best Production Design, Best Sound Editing, Best Sound Mixing, and Best Visual Effects—with the film winning the latter due to its many dramatic launch and space-related sequences. While screen-used props remain uncommon, large set decorations such as these, created with such immense skill and care, are rarely seen offered at auction—incredible Gemini 8 replica instrument panels that are, in and of themselves, intricate works of art ideal for collectors of space or cinema.
