A great photograph of Buzz Aldrin as he became the first astronaut to accomplish a perfectly successful spacewalk which validated the techniques for all subsequent EVAs.
The image was recorded by a 16mm Maurer camera mounted by Buzz Aldrin on the outside of the spacecraft. The 9m umbilical EVA cord attaching him to the spacecraft and its open hatch are in the foreground.
Aldrin first worked in the hatch and nose area, and then moved along a handrail he had installed to the adapter section where he used foot restraints and tethers to position himself in front of a work panel mounted on the rear of the adaptor where he performed 17 relatively simple manual tasks.
He then moved to the target vehicle adapter area and carried out a series of tasks, including use of a torque wrench while tethered. He attached a 30 meter long tether stowed in the GATV adapter to the Gemini adapter bar. About a dozen two-minute rest periods were scheduled during the EVA to prevent Aldrin from becoming overtaxed as happened to previous spacewalkers. Aldrin reentered the capsule at 12:33 p.m. and closed the hatch at 12:40 p.m. All tasks were accomplished and total EVA time was 2 hours 6 minutes.
Read more: NASA Space Science Data Coordinated Archive.


“The whole purpose of Buzz Aldrin’s Extravehicular Activity was to see how well you can work in space. You can operate very nicely out there if you know what you’re doing and just slow down. You have to let zero gravity work for you, not against you.”
—James Lovell (Schick and Van Haaften, pg. 59)
Learn More about this Collection

Read The Photography of Another World: The Artistic Heritage of Apollo (1961-1972)

Explore the Timeline for Project Apollo: Manned Space Missions, 1961-1972

© All texts by Victor Martin-Malburet