First human-taken photograph from space: Blue Earth horizon and black sky of space from Friendship 7, John Glenn [Mercury Atlas 6], 20 February 1962.
One of the first and extremely rare photographs captured by John Glenn in full color from Friendship 7, the first manned American spacecraft to orbit the Earth. John Glenn was the first human being to carry a still camera into space. On 20 February 1962, John Glenn became the first American to circle the Earth making three orbits in his Friendship 7 Mercury spacecraft. He also became the first human being to photograph Earth from space using a hand-held 35mm Ansco Autoset (modified Minolta) camera and Eastman Color Negative Film 5250. The malfunction of his spacecraft’s automatic control system during the second orbit limited Glenn’s opportunities to make use of his camera. Nevertheless, he did manage to document his time in space and snapped this view looking northwest of the cloud-covered Atlantic Ocean on the third orbit of Friendship 7. Over the Atlantic on the third orbit, Glenn photographed an overcast region to the northwest and patterns of scattered clouds in the foreground. (Friendship 7 Pilot’s Flight Report, pg. 127).
Numbered to upper margin 'NASA S-62-6046' with NASA MSC credit stamp and 'A Kodak Paper' watermarks to verso.
Beautifully framed in our signature black gallery frame. Ready to hang.
Photograph is 10 W x 8 H in and Framed 26.5 W x 24 H.
Provenance | Marking the 50th anniversary of the last human voyage to the moon, Wright and LAMA Auction Houses presented One Giant Leap for Mankind: Vintage Photographs from the Victor Martin-Malburet Collection, Celebrating the 50th Anniversary of Project Apollo (1961–1972), an auction that took place in Chicago on October 28th, 2022. This stunning collection comprises more than 300 original historic photographs from Project Apollo, the NASA program responsible for placing the first humans on the surface of the moon. Meticulously researched and collected over the course of 25 years by Victor Martin-Malburet, each image represents extraordinary feats of human exploration, imagination, and collaboration, and many of those being offered have never been published.
John Glenn
Printed 1962
Photograph is 10 W x 8 H in and Framed 26.5 W x 24 H.
Vintage chromogenic print on fiber-based Kodak paper
Good condition. Newly framed.
$225 in the U.S.
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