The first Hasselblad camera flown in Space has sold for $275,000 at RR Auction, beating an estimate of $100,000 by 175%.
It was flown aboard the Mercury-Atlas 8 and Mercury-Atlas 9 missions, which took place in 1962 and 1963 respectively and were largely focused on training and earth observation.
 Hasselblad cameras are still used on manned NASA missions today |
The partnership between NASA and Hasselblad continues to this day, making this modified 500c fitted with a Ziess 80mm lens the first year model in an enduring partnership.
It was accompanied by painstakingly assembled documentation and letters of provenance from astronaut Gordon Cooper, who writes: "This Hasselblad camera was flown on MA-9 and used by me to obtain a number of good shots of the earth.
"During the mission, I conducted many experiments, including taking numerous photographs of the Earth from inside the spacecraft.
"I took the photographs with a Hasselblad camera. The serial number on the camera body is TV 45279. I used an 80 mm Carl Zeiss lens, which has serial number 2823801."
We have a fascinating array of space memorabilia available, click here to take a look.
Please sign up to our free newsletter to receive exciting news about space memorabilia auctions.
