[Gemini V] Cover of LIFE: Earth from space over Baja California. G....

[Gemini V] Cover of LIFE: Earth from space over Baja California. G. Cooper or P. Conrad, 21–29 August 1965. Printed 1965. Vintage chromogenic print on fiber-based Kodak paper [NASA image S-65–45763]. 20.3×25.4 cm (8×10 in), numbered “NASA S-65–45763” in red top margin, with NASA caption and “A Kodak Paper” watermarks on the verso (NASA Manned Spacecraft Center, Houston, Texas).

Literature: LIFE, 24 September 1965, cover.

This splendid photograph graced the cover of LIFE Magazine (Most remarkable photos from Earth ever recorded, September 24, 1965) as flight durations grew longer in 1965. On Gemini V, astronauts Gordon Cooper and Pete Conrad circled the world 120 times in 190 hours and 55 minutes, returning with dramatic color photographs of the surface of the Earth. Apogee was 215 miles and perigee 100 miles. The photograph was taken with the hand-held NASA-modified 70mm Hasselblad 500C and its 80mm lens, using MS Ektachrome thin base film, ASA 64, showing Baja California in Mexico looking southeast with the Gulf of California to the left as seen from the Gemini V spacecraft. “The color of many of the [Gemini photographs] is outstanding and ground resolution remarkably high. [...] Photos of shorelines, river courses, and details never before seen by man are included. [...] These photographs and other Gemini experiments are the beginning of a vast increase in man’s useful knowledge of Earth and its environment.” Robert Gilruth, Director of the Manned Spacecraft Center (NASA SP-129, preface).

Condition Report:Condition report on request.

Please notice: Supplementary material not included.

Category:Photos ▸ Vintage photographs