Terrific official color semi-glossy 10.75 x 13.75 NASA photo of Gene Cernan performing his near-fatal spacewalk during the Gemini 9 mission, affixed to its original 16 x 20 cardstock mount, which is signed and inscribed in black felt tip, “To Kent – With my very best wishes, Gene Cernan, Gemini IX.” In very good to fine condition, with scattered foxing to the mount, and small stains and gouges to the image.
Cernan's Gemini 9 spacewalk proved much more difficult than expected and became compromised due to fatigue from the generally strenuous task of moving in space, which was furthered by his stiff suit and unruly umbilical tether. By the time he got to the AMU stored at the rear of the capsule, his body was overtaxed and overheating, his visor had fogged over to zero visibility, and his heart raced to three times its normal rate. Cernan was able to successfully detach from the AMU but he, Command Pilot Tom Stafford, and Mission Control agreed that attempting to use the AMU was too risky and the rest of the planned EVA was aborted. He labored back to the hatch and Stafford helped to pull him in safely.
Despite the failure to test the AMU and make the first-ever untethered spacewalk—an endeavor that went uncompleted for nearly 40 years—Cernan's harrowing EVA was extremely important in that it revealed shortcomings in procedure and equipment. It produced profound changes in spacesuit designs, including improved cooling methods, anti-fogging for visors, tethers, and umbilicals, and initiated the use of underwater training to prepare for the taxing zero-g environment.
Originates from the collection of American diplomat and former Foreign Service officer Kent Crane, who served as the former Special Assistant to Vice President Spiro Agnew and acted as a liaison between the White House and NASA during the Apollo Program. A close friend of the astronauts, Crane enjoyed fishing with Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins and hunting game alongside Gene Cernan, Tom Stafford, and Wally Schirra.
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