“CCMTA, MTN, Pad 17A
Douglas Thor-Able Missile no. 134,
Phase 3 prior to Launch from Cape Canaveral.
Photo by: C. Rogers”
A stunning photograph…solely because of Mr. Chuck Rogers. A genius of a photographer way ahead of his time. I doubt there were many/ANY NASA characters in 1959 that had the slightest clue, inkling or savvy to see or recognize the power, mystique & majesty of ‘rocket photography’. That it was legitimately an art form…IMHO. I really think that it was just for the purpose of documentation. Hell, if I remember correctly & true, it was individual Astronauts’ initiative/thinking outside the box, that got the first cameras aboard their Mercury spacecraft.
The profound, chronic & pervasive cluelessness probably contributed to the ‘slow-scan’ or whatever they’re called tapes of no less than the APOLLO 11 EXTRAVEHICULAR ACTIVITIES being ERASED. I doubt that’s even the truth. In reality, some photo department genius probably recorded “Bowling For Dollars” episodes over it. “Erased” was bad enough to ‘admit’…there’s no way they’d own up to “recorded over”. The absolute pinnacle of NASA photographic dumbassery, regardless of the circumstances.
THANK YOU Mr. Rogers.
And, thank you Jeff Quitney. I've linked to his wonderful preservation of space history footage in the past. I hope he continues his amazing, and in my world, important work, or that it at least doesn't go 'poof' at some point. It'll be our..err, my loss:
vimeo.com/331471481
Credit: Jeff Quitney/Vimeo