5. The Manned Satellite (Mercury, Gemini, Apollo) 



The crews of the manned spacecraft have returned from their missions 

 with literally thousands of photographs of themselves, their vehicles, 

 space, earth, and, in their latest odyssey, the surface of the moon. 



With the exception of Apollo 8, the manned satellite photographs 

 of the earth were visually limited to those taken from a height of 

 approximately I85 km. (100 nm. ) and from an equatorial band stretching 

 from 35°N to 35°S. Their pictures were usually in color and on 70 mm 

 film.* 



The four manned orbital Mercury flights were tests of film, equipment 

 and picture taking techniques. Color and black and white film of 

 different ASA ratings, speeds, and resolutions; 35mm. and 70mm. stills; 

 16 mm. movie, hand held and fixed — all of these films, cameras, and 

 methods were used during this phase of the manned spaceflight venture. 

 Unfortunately, the Mercury photographs are not available as a unit at 

 this time, so their oceanographic value is difficult to determine. They 

 are mentioned here for completeness and with the hope that someone will 

 review them for their oceanographic content. 



The more than 2,i^-00 photographs from the ten Gemini missions .were 

 filed in a more orderly fashion, and a catalog of the pictures listing 

 their locations, times, and subjects is available. (in this regard 



* For study purposes, it is strongly suggested that examinations be made with 

 transparencies on a light table using a 5 or 10 power lens. Color prints do 

 not have the color contrast that are visible on the transparencies and much 

 of the fine detail is lost. 



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