Cameras in Space (Contax?)

[morback]

By accident I stumbled upon this image and did a little research. I knew of the Hasselblads in space, but I never thought about someone bringing their own personal film camera out there.

Turns out this is Edward Higgins White, the first American to walk in space. And he also took his camera to space:

During the third revolution, the crew received a go ahead for both decompression and EVA. Accordingly, the spacecraft's atmosphere was reduced to a vacuum and White's hatch was opened. As Ed stood in his seat, preparing for egress, he checked his camera equipment three times. "I wanted to make sure I didn't leave the lens cap on... I knew I might as well not come back if I did." (31)

At 2:45 P.M., as Gemini 4 passed beyond Hawaii, Ed White emerged through the hatch. "When I departed the spacecraft, there was no pushoff whatsoever from the spacecraft... The gun actually provided the impulse for me to leave the spacecraft." (32) As he began his space walk, Ed was fully aware that all of his VOX transmissions were being heard by millions of people who were glued to their radios and television sets. "I thought, 'What do you say to 194 million people when you're looking down at them from space?' Then the solution became very obvious to me... 'They don't want me to talk to them. They want to hear what we're doing up here.' ... So what you heard were two test pilots conducting their mission in the best manner possible." (33)

Ed relayed that he did not experience any disorientation or sensation that he was falling. In spite of the fact that Gemini 4 was whipping through space at speeds in excess of 17,500 mph, White felt very little sensation of speed. He reported that "the maneuvering unit is good. The only problem I have is that I haven't got enough fuel". (34) With the fuel exhausted in the hand unit, White had to rely on the twenty five foot tether to maneuver himself. He soon discovered that the gun provided much better control than the tether and that moving was much more difficult and awkward without it.

Ed, a photography buff, then turned his attention to capturing the spectacular views he was witnessing on film. "I'm going to work on getting some pictures... I can sit out here and see the whole California coast," (35) he remarked. While White snapped away with his 35 mm camera, Jim McDivitt took some photos of Ed as he came into full view of the window. As he maneuvered away, Ed accidently bumped into the spacecraft, leaving a mark on McDivitt's window. The world delighted in hearing the banter between two friends as Jim stated, "You smeared up my windshield, you dirty dog. You see how it's all smeared up there?" (36)

Source.

So yeah, even when in space, check for those stupid lens caps

 

[Gary Sandhu]

Wow! Anywhere we can see the photos taken with the Contax?

 

[grandallj]

If you're ever visiting the Washington, DC, area, and have the time to head to the Smithsonian's Udvar-Hazy center out near the Dulles Airport, go. In addition to all kinds of aircraft (and a Space Shuttle!) on display, there is an informative display of photographic tools from the space program and used by military aviation. There is a Contax in the case, although I don't think it's the very one that White used.

http://www.si.edu/Museums/air-and-space-museum-udvar-hazy-center

 

[zauhar]

I wonder what the temperature of the film in the camera was?

EDIT: I see that temperature and radiation-resistant emulsions were available, my guess is that the film was very cold (even with the sun shining on the camera).

EDIT: According to a NASA page, objects in direct sun in orbit can heat up to 250 F! I guess that makes sense, there is no convective transfer to move heat away.