The first Hasselblad camera used in space is to cross the block at RR Auction on November 13 with a $50,000-100,000 estimate.
It was flown on the Mercury-Atlas 8 and Mercury-Atlas 9 missions in 1962 and 1963, which were focused primarily on engineering and Earth observation.
 Hasselblad has been making cameras for NASA since the early 1960s |
The camera is a Hasselblad 500c with a Ziess 80mm lens, and has been painstakingly matched to documentation logged prior to launch.
NASA still uses Hasselblad cameras on all its manned launches, making this the first year model from an enduring partnership.
Two letters of provenance accompany it from astronaut Gordon Cooper, who writes: "This Hasselblad camera was flown on MA-9 and used by me to obtain a number of good shots of the earth.
 Cooper took this photograph over Tibet during the MA-9 mission |
"During the mission, I conducted many experiments, including taking numerous photographs of the Earth from inside the spacecraft.
"I took the photographs with a Hasselblad camera. The serial number on the camera body is TV 45279. I used an 80 mm Carl Zeiss lens, which has serial number 2823801."
In March, a Hasselblad camera carried onto the moon by Apollo 15 astronaut Jim Irwin sold for $910,400 at Westlicht Photographica Auctions in Vienna, Austria - a 231% increase on a valuation of $275,000.
An Apollo 11 flown cover is valued at $60,000 ahead of a sale at Heritage Auctions on November 12.
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