54. [Mercury Atlas 8] SPACE AND PHOTOGRAPHY PIONEER: Walter Schirra inspecting the first Hasselblad camera for use in space aboard Sigma 7 NASA, 20 September 1962 Printed 1962. Vintage gelatin silver print on fibre-based paper [NASA - USAF image LOC 62-7273]. With NASA / USAF caption numbered "LOC 62-7273 (issued by NASA Cape Canaveral, Florida). 20.3 x 25.4 cm. (8 x 10 in.) Historical context Walter Schirra is briefed on the use of the first hand-held Hasselblad 500C flight camera by Roland "Red" Williams, who oversaw its modification. Left to right are Paul Becker of McDonnell Aircraft Corporation, Mercury-Atlas 8 pilot Walter Schirra, astronaut Donald "Deke" Slayton, and Roland "Red" Williams of RCA. Although Schirra couldn't capture high-quality photographs during the Sigma 7 mission, he validated the use of the Hasselblad camera, which represented the pinnacle of photographic technology at the time. The Hasselblad quickly became the instrument of choice, enabling Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo astronauts to produce the iconic images that now belong to humanity's collective memory. "I talked to Ralph Morse and Carl Mydans [of LIFE] and to Ken Weaver, Otis Imboden, and Luis Marden of National Geographic about what cameras they would recommend. They all said, 'Hasselblad, but for...' — but for this, but for that. The 'but-fors' were the discrepancies in the design — gear train problems, jamming, not a good fit, and this kind of thing. So on my first flight, we took an off-the-shelf Hasselblad and had all the 'but-fors' taken out." — Walter Schirra (Schick and Van Haaften, p. 20)