National Air and Space Museum Archives

Gemini and Apollo Crew Splashdown Recovery Color Slides [Don Blair]

Summary

Collection ID:
NASM.2019.0034
Creators:
Blair, Donald W.
Dates:
1966-1972
Languages:
English
.
Physical Description:
0.2 Cubic feet
One box.
Repository:
Container:
1
This collection consists of color slides taken by Don Blair during his coverage of astronaut crew splashdowns and recoveries, 1960s.

Scope and Contents

Scope and Contents
This collection consists of 35 mm color slides taken by Don Blair during his coverage of astronaut crew splashdowns and recoveries for the following missions: Gemini 9, June 1966 with USS Wasp (CVS-18); Gemini 10, July 1966 with USS Guadalcanal (LPH-7); Gemini 11, September 1966 with USS Guam; (LPH-9); Apollo 11, July 1969 with the USS Hornet (CVS-12); and Apollo 15, August 1972 with the USS Okinawa (LPH-3). The collection also includes two 35 mm black and white negative strips from Apollo 15, a small contact sheet of 35 mm three negatives from Apollo 11, and a few 35 mm copy slides of official National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) photographs. A set of digital scans of most of the original slides was provided by the donor on a USB flash drive.

Arrangement

Arrangement
Slides are arranged by space mission recovery event, with black and white negatives appearing at the end of the collection.

Biographical / Historical

Biographical / Historical
Donald W. Blair (1933-2018) served in the Army from 1953 to 1955, and then attended the Cambridge School of Radio and TV in Manhattan, New York. The first 10 years of his career were spent in local radio before he joined the Mutual Network and from 1966 until 1989 he worked at Mutual, WCBS Radio, ABC Entertainment and NBC. Blair covered astronaut splashdowns and recoveries for the following missions: Gemini 9, June 1966 with USS Wasp (CVS-18); Gemini 10, July 1966 with USS Guadalcanal (LPH-7); Gemini 11, September 1966 with USS Guam; (LPH-9); Apollo 11, July 1969 with the USS Hornet (CVS-12); and Apollo 15, August 1972 with the USS Okinawa (LPH-3). Blair detailed his experience in his book, Splashdown: NASA and the Navy, which was published in 2004.

Administration

Author
Patti Williams
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Robert Fish, Gift, 2019, NASM.2019.0034
Processing Information
Arranged, described, and encoded by Patti Williams, 2019.

Digital Content

More …

Using the Collection

Conditions Governing Use
Material is subject to Smithsonian Terms of Use. Should you wish to use NASM material in any medium, please submit an Application for Permission to Reproduce NASM Material, available at Permissions Requests.
Conditions Governing Access
No restrictions on access
Preferred Citation
Gemini and Apollo Crew Splashdown Recovery Color Slides [Don Blair], NASM.2019.0034, National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution.

Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Astronautics Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Astronauts Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Color slides -- 1960-1990 Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Gemini Project Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Apollo Project Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Helicopters Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid

National Air and Space Museum Archives
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