James A. McDivitt (American, b. 1929)

Description:

James A. McDivitt (American, b. 1929)
First U.S. spacewalk, Ed White's EVA (Extravehicular Activity) over the Pacific Ocean, Gemini 4, June 1965. Vintage chromogenic print on fiber-based Kodak paper with 'A Kodak Paper' watermark on the verso, image size 7 3/4 x 7 1/4 in. (19.5 x 18.3 cm),unmatted.
Condition: Good.

N.B. James McDivitt photographed Ed White's first American EVA with a Hasselblad model 500 C (NASA modified) and 70mm Eastman Kodak Ektachrome MS film. His pictures represented the first still photographs showing man in space. Before that, only a few low resolution images recorded by on board movie cameras had shown American astronauts or Russian cosmonauts in the space environment. According to Ed White, "This was a picture taken by my teammate, James A. McDivitt, on the third revolution of Gemini IV. I had a specially designed spacesuit which had 21 layers of thermal and micrometeoroid protection. My face was protected by a double gold-plated visor which provided protection from the unfiltered rays of the Sun. In my hand I held a small self-maneuvering unit which gave me control of my movements in space. On my chest was an oxygen chestpack that regulated the flow of oxygen to my suit and provided an 8-minute supply of emergency oxygen. I was secured to the spacecraft by a 25-foot umbilical line and a 23-foot tether line, which were secured together and wrapped with a golden tape for thermal insulation. On the top of the hand-held self-maneuvering unit was mounted a 35mm camera to record the event from outside the spacecraft" (quoted in Cortright, p. 151). Astronaut White died two years later, with Astronauts Virgil 'Gus' Grissom and Roger B. Chaffee, when fire swept the interior of an Apollo spacecraft at Cape Kennedy. The NASA negative number is S-65-30427.

Literature: Schick and Van Haaften, p. 33; Chaikin, Space, p. 58; Reynolds, p. 49.
Estimate $800-1,200


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