Lot 180

3 More

There are 2 special notices relating to this lot......

First color photograph of the whole Planet Earth; first color photograph of Earth taken beyond low orbit, November 9, 1967

Camera on Apollo 4

Name: First color photograph of the whole Planet Earth; first color photograph of Earth taken beyond low orbit, November 9, 1967
Brand: Camera on Apollo 4
Price: 12000.00 GBP
Availability: SoldOut

Price Realised GBP 15,000

Estimate

GBP 2,000 - GBP 3,000

Closed: 19 Nov 2020

Loading details

Try our

Cost calculator

First color photograph of the whole Planet Earth; first color photograph of Earth taken beyond low orbit, November 9, 1967

Camera on Apollo 4

Price Realised GBP 15,000

Closed: 19 Nov 2020

Price Realised GBP 15,000

Closed: 19 Nov 2020

Details Lot Essay Related Articles More from

180 a
Taken by an automatic Maurer 70mm camera aboard the unmanned Apollo 4 spacecraft

First color photograph of the Earth taken beyond Earth’s low orbit

Apollo 4, November 9, 1967, 005:04:00 GET

Vintage chromogenic print on fiber-based GAF paper, 20.3 x 25.4cm (8 x 10in), numbered “NASA G-68-5819” (NASA Goddard) in black in bottom margin [NASA AS4-1-200]

180 b
Taken by an automatic Maurer 70mm camera aboard the unmanned Apollo 4 spacecraft

First color photograph of the whole Planet Earth

Apollo 4, November 9, 1967, 005:39:00 GET

Vintage chromogenic print on fiber-based Kodak paper, 20.3 x 25.4cm (8 x 10in), with “A Kodak Paper” watermarks on the verso, numbered “NASA AS4-1-410” (NASA MSC) in red in top margin, with a restauration (minor folding) at upper right
20.3 x 25.4cm (8 x 10in)

180 a
Cortright, p.198.

This lot will be removed to Christie’s Park Royal. Christie’s will inform you if the lot has been sent offsite. Our removal and storage of the lot is subject to the terms and conditions of storage which can be found at Christies.com/storage and our fees for storage are set out in the table below - these will apply whether the lot remains with Christie’s or is removed elsewhere. Please call Christie’s Client Service 24 hours in advance to book a collection time at Christie’s Park Royal. All collections from Christie’s Park Royal will be by pre-booked appointment only. Tel: +44 (0)20 7839 9060 Email: cscollectionsuk@christies.com. If the lot remains at Christie’s it will be available for collection on any working day 9.00 am to 5.00 pm. Lots are not available for collection at weekends.
Please note this lot is the property of a consumer. See H1 of the Conditions of Sale.

Conditions of Sale
FAQs
This lot is offered by Christie Manson & Woods Ltd

Brought to you by

James Hyslop

A Christie's specialist may contact you to discuss this lot or to notify you if the condition changes prior to the sale.

jhyslop@christies.com +44 (0)20 7752 3205

View condition report

Lot Essay

The Saturn V rocket made two orbits of the Earth before the third stage booster fired to send the capsule out in a vast ellipse peaking at 9,767 nautical miles, offering a fantastic sight to the automatic camera. Until then the highest altitude color photographs of the Earth had been recorded by the Gemini 11 crew using the rocket on their Agena target vehicle to raise their apogee to 741 nautical miles (1,373 km), the highest Earth orbit ever reached by a crewed spacecraft.

“Coastal Brazil, Atlantic Ocean, West Africa, Sahara, looking northwest, as photographed from the unmanned Apollo 4 (Spacecraft 017/Saturn 501) Earth-orbital space mission. This picture was taken when the Spacecraft 017 and the Saturn IVB stage were orbiting Earth at an altitude of 9,060 nautical miles” (original NASA caption for AS4-1-200).

“This is a sight astronauts will see on the way to the Moon,” Samuel Phillips, Director of the Apollo Program, NASA, commented. “This photograph was one of 755 exposures made at 10.6-second intervals beginning 4 hours 28 minutes after liftoff. Using Eastman Kodak Ektachrome MS, type S.O.-368 film, it was taken by a Maurer Model 220G 70-mm sequence camera.”

“Coastal Brazil, Atlantic Ocean, West Africa, Sahara, Antarctica, looking west, as photographed from the Apollo 4 (Spacecraft 017/Saturn 501) unmanned, Earth-orbital space mission. This picture was taken when the Spacecraft 017 and Saturn S-IVB (third) stage were orbiting Earth at an altitude of 9,745 nautical miles” (original NASA caption for AS4-1-410).

The photographic mission of Apollo 4 was the acquisition and return of the highest altitude color imagery ever made of the Earth. Located in the capsule of the spacecraft, looking out of the window, was not an astronaut but an automatic 70mm Maurer camera which took this beautiful view of the full crescent Earth.

“Every picture of the whole Earth so far had been electronically transmitted; this time the negative was taken back to Earth and was recovered in the Pacific after reentry of the capsule” (Poole, p. 86).