Title from caption on object: “Rehearsal”

January 1962

American 20th Century, National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Associated Names
American 20th Century

Artist

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Artist, American, est. 1958

Associated Press

Publisher

The image shows a person wearing a space suit and helmet, with their upper body visible. They are seated and facing the camera, with both hands raised in front of them, palms parallel to their chest and slightly bent at the wrist. The person has a broad smile, and their facial features are largely visible through the helmet's clear visor. They have short hair, though the style and color are not distinctly visible due to the helmet's frame and the black-and-white nature of the image. The suit is a traditional, textured space suit with intricate detail, featuring various straps and layers. Patches, a microphone wire, and a reflection of a person in a large round patch on the chest can be observed. The hands are also in space gloves with detailing on the fingers and palms. There is no notable jewelry. The background appears to be an interior of a spacecraft or space station, indicated by structural beams and chains in the backdrop.
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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    gelatin silver print

  • Credit Line

    Gift of Mary and Dan Solomon

  • Dimensions

    image: 21.9 × 17.9 cm (8 5/8 × 7 1/16 in.)
    sheet: 21.9 × 20.5 cm (8 5/8 × 8 1/16 in.)

  • Accession Number

    2018.177.534

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

(sale, Ebay.com); Mary and Dan Solomon, Monarch Beach, CA; gift to NGA, 2018.

Associated Names

Inscriptions

on verso, upper left printed in red ink on applied newspaper: JAN 21 1962; along left edge printed in black ink on applied newspaper: By SAUL PETT / Associated Press Staff Writer / CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla., / Jan. 20.--The day approaches. / The bleachers are beginning / to fill. / And John H. Glenn, Jr., is / anxious to get on with it. Dis- / cussion now makes him rest- / less and only action interests / him. Still he must discuss and / wait and rehearse and wait / and check and recheck and / wait. If Sunday comes, can / Wednesday be far behind? / THE TOTAL BLEND, of the / man, the event, the place, is / one of incongruity. In a way, / this finger of sand and scrub / pine and motels is beginning / to resemble Louisville before / the Derby, New York before / a heavyweight title fight. The / place is jumping. / Every room has been tak- / en and the losers are begging / or threatening desk clerks with / the Bill of Rights. Television / cables ooze out of motel rooms / and snake around palm trees. / Teletype machines have re- / placed beds and have been in- / stalled in bathtubs. Photogra- / phers live an uneasy peace. / The bars are jammed at / night and through the smoke / and talk and the jokes, / comes a model modeling for / visiting wives an "orange- / sherbet double-knit dress." / Alan Shepard, the man of / another hour, walks past a / motel swimming pool, looking / uncosmic with his bundle of / laundry. Walter Williams, op- / erations director for the Na- / tional Aeronautics and Space / Administration--the man who / makes the final decision on / when Glenn goes--scur- / ries across the grass, wear- / ing a worried look. Newcomers / see significance in his expres- / sion. Older hands point out he / always looks worried.; upper center printed in black ink on applied newspaper: REHEARSAL: At Cape Canaveral--Marine Corps Lieut. / Col. John H. Glenn, Jr., practiced recently with three / mirrors such as he will use to read instruments in the / space capsule in which he is scheduled to orbit the earth / next Wednesday.--National Aeronautics and Space Ad- / ministration photo by A. P. wirephoto.; upper center stamped in red ink on applied newspaper: JAN 21 1962; center stamped in red ink: JAN 21 1962

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