photographed by fellow Gemini 4 astronaut, Command Pilot James McDivitt, Ed White performs the first American spacewalk, vintage c-print, official NASA photograph taken 3rd June 1965, printed 1960s, verso with 'A Kodak Paper' watermarks, small RCA inspection stamp and pencil annotations NASA S65-30430, M, W6, NASA0701-09, image 19cm sq., sheet 21.5cm x 25.5cm

Note: This photograph is from the first series of still photographs of a human in space (until this point all released images of astronauts were taken by television or monitoring cameras) and taken by another human. The claim for very first photograph in the series has been made for the image numbered S-65-30431 (see Dreweatts Space Exploration sale 17 March 2021 lot 31) but this image is numbered S65-30430 so may in fact be the first. The image number can be confirmed on the NASA website image library.

The full NASA description of this image is as follows: S65-30430 (3 June 1965) --- Astronaut Edward H. White II, pilot on the Gemini-Titan 4 spaceflight, is shown during his egress from the spacecraft. His face is covered by a shaded visor to protect him from the unfiltered rays of the sun. White became the first American astronaut to walk in space. He remained outside the spacecraft for 21 minutes during the third revolution of the Gemini-4 mission. He wears a specially designed spacesuit for the extravehicular activity (EVA). In his right hand, he carries a Hand-Held Self-Maneuvering Unit (HHSMU) with which he controlled his movements while in space. He was attached to the spacecraft by a 25-feet umbilical line and a 23-feet tether line, both wrapped together with gold tape to form one cord. He wears an emergency oxygen supply chest pack. Astronaut James A. McDivitt is command pilot for the Gemini-4 mission. NASA EDITOR'S NOTE: Astronaut Edward H. White II died in the Apollo/Saturn 204 fire at Cape Kennedy on Jan. 27, 1967.