Powerful collection of 32 vintage official glossy NASA photographs, each approximately 8 x 10 and 10 x 8, documenting the evolution of rocketry during America’s race to space in the 1960s. The photos, five of which are color, feature the following caption text or stamps to reverse: NASA (11), NASA-Marshall (9), George C. Marshall, Public Affairs Office (3), U.S. Army (2), U.S. Air Force (3), U.S. Navy (1), and Chronicle Magazine, NASA Section (3). A total of 21 photos bear “Return to: Chronicle Files” press stamps on the reverse, and numerous photos feature annotations or affixed stickers or clippings.
Image subjects include: an attempted Titan launch at the Patrick AFB in December 1959; an Atlas-Centaur launching with the Intelsat IV communications satellite from Cape Kennedy in January 1971; a rocket lineup consisting of the Hermes, Jupiter, Juno II, Redstone, Jupiter-C, Mercury-Redstone, and the Saturn I booster; the liftoff of a Little Joe booster from Wallops Station, Virginia; the successful submarine launch of a Polaris test vehicle in July 1960; the fiery launch of the Army’s Nike Zeus missile from the White Sands Missile Range in December 1960; the launch of the Army’s Nike Hercules missile from White Sands in February 1961; the ascension of the Titan II rocket at Cape Canaveral in March 1962; a sequential hour-by-hour rollout of the Apollo 4 Saturn V launch vehicle; the liftoff of the Atlas-D rocket in May 1965, and many more. In overall fine condition, with some creases, small tears, and wear to edges, and some editorial notations to image sides.
