Zeiss Ikon Contarex Space Camera - Gemini IV mission
Startpreis
30.000 €
Gebote: 0
50.000 – 60.000 €
Versandnformation
Preparations for the Gemini IV mission began as early as 1961. The first camera intended for use on this mission was a specially adapted Contarex “Spezial.” The NASA team initially purchased the camera and its lenses through a regular photographic retail store in Houston, Texas. The equipment was subsequently modified for spaceflight and subjected to extensive testing.
The first of these test cameras is today preserved in the collection of the National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution.
Following the successful trials, NASA commissioned Zeiss Ikon in West Germany to develop an improved camera system for the upcoming Gemini missions. This development program also involved cooperation with Hasselblad, which later produced the most iconic cameras used in manned spaceflight.
Offered here is the Camera VK-102 (NASA), a Contarex camera specially adapted and prepared by Zeiss for evaluation within the Gemini program. The body is covered in a special reflective material designed to reduce thermal absorption and protect the mechanism from extreme temperature fluctuations encountered in space. The chassis is engraved “V-102.”
It features oversized levers for opening the camera back, enabling operation with gloved hands under mission conditions.
The camera is supplied with a Zeiss Planar 2/50mm lens, no.3180496.
This rare example represents one of only a very small number of surviving engineering models produced for NASA’s manned spaceflight camera development — a historically significant and truly museum-worthy piece.