153. [Apollo 7] SPACE PORTRAIT: Walter Schirra weightless aboard the first Apollo spacecraft Walter Cunningham, 11-22 October 1968 Printed 1968. Vintage chromogenic print on fibre-based Kodak paper [NASA image AS7-4-1582]. Numbered "NASA AS7-4-1582" in red in the top margin, with "A Kodak Paper" watermark on the reverse (issued by NASA Manned Spacecraft Centre, Houston, Texas). 20.3 x 25.4 cm. (8 x 10 in.) Historical context This powerful portrait of Walter Schirra symbolizes the dawn of human life beyond Earth. Floating weightlessly with a world map tracking their orbital path in the penumbra of the Apollo 7 Command Module, the first crewed Apollo spacecraft, Schirra's expression reveals the toll of a demanding 11-day mission—highlighting the intensity and fatigue experienced at the dawn of long-duration human spaceflight. A true pioneer, Schirra was the only astronaut to fly in all three early U.S. space programs—Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo (Mercury-Atlas 8, Gemini VI-A, and Apollo 7). "To me, it's one of the great photos taken in space. I thought it was the best study of the stress and strain on a human being. It has natural lighting and unique shadows. You see the last day of the last hurrah of an aging pioneer." Richard Underwood, NASA chief of photography (Schick and Van Haaften, p. 90) "Wally and I had a personal interest in taking portraits. I took a picture of him where you can see he's just worn out and I cut off just a small part of his head. After we got back, he was irritated. He said 'Look what you did! You chopped off the top of my head.' That picture seemed to catch the hard work and real effort, not simply the glamour of spaceflight." Walter Cunningham (Schick and Van Haaften, p. 90) Literature The View from Space: American Astronaut Photography, 1962–1972, Schick and Van Haaften, p. 91 Full Moon, Light, plate 17 Apollo: the epic journey to the Moon, Reynolds, pp. 74-75