posted 10-21-2004 03:01 AM               

Prior to the release of this index I was already using a copy of Ed's own thumbnail images of these portraits to try to produce an illustrated version of a subset the portraits. When the text index was produced I effectively stopped working on my thumbnail version but keeping in mind the old saying that a picture is worth a thousand words I later decided to at least produce a working version of my index.

I recently got in touch with Ed to get his agreement on releasing this new index and to get him to check it for errors. Although it may not be perfect, it is probably as close as it is going to get for now so I thought I may as well make it available to my fellow CSers.

So, without further ado, you can visit the thumbnail-illustrated Astronaut Portrait Guide here:

http://www.edgeofdarkness.com/astroportraits

A few important points:

1) The site DOES NOT contain large versions of the images as I can't afford to host a site of that size with the kind of bandwidth/download limits required. If you want high-res versions of the images you'll have to look elsewhere on the web or contact Ed Hengeveld (who may be able to provide you a CD-ROM).

2) The site only covers NASA groups 1 through 5. I had to draw the line somewhere and this seemed a natural break. At some time in the future I'll probably add further groups so you'll get the chance to see those 80s Shuttle-style big haircuts and 'taches in all their glory. In the meantime the text index here on CS covers all this.

3) If you have an id for an image labelled "no id" please feel free to let me or Ed know. We'd love to fill in the gaps. Also if you see a mistake please let me know. I'm sure I've made a few cut-and-paste errors in there.

4) Enjoy!

posted 10-21-2004 09:53 AM               

but the reference is very good as for me

regards
Maciej
Astronauts by me

posted 10-21-2004 10:27 AM               

Just one small thing I found amiss.... there wasn't any portrait shots of Alan Shepard... just wanted to give you the headsup.

posted 10-21-2004 02:54 PM               

Hope you didn't think I was being picky and hope you still don't... the Alan Shepard images are just blank placeholders with a red X top-left.

From my limited experience I can attest to how difficult it can be to get all the hyperlinks to work flawlessly... a few wrong letters in the html and you could end up ANYWHERE <G>

posted 10-21-2004 06:11 PM               

Tonight I've been working on adding links to the mission photos from each astronaut's page and links to the astronauts from each group. Once I've got all these cross-links in place I'll update the site again.

UPDATE:
The cross-links between groups, missions and astronauts are now in place.

posted 10-24-2004 10:39 AM            

For example, in the Cernan selection, please note that the image of Cernan standing before the LM trainer (KSC-71PC-033) is not in the Apollo 17 spacesuit (type A7LB) but rather in his Apollo 14 backup commander suit (type A7L)--the immediate give-away is the placement of the connectors on the front of the suit. Thus, the 1971 date may well be the "accession date" that the photo was catalogued, and not the date the image was made. This was explained to me by Mike Gentry at JSC photo labs, and has been a source of confusion in my own photo research.

Also, please note that the Cernan photo S71-51308 does indeed show him in an A7LB as worn on Apollo 17, but for some reason he opted to attach the Apollo 10 patch to it. I wonder why he thought that was a good idea?

More discoveries to follow (for example, why were McDivitt and Swigert photographed in type A7LB suits, when neither of them were ever associated with J-series missions)--thanks for making them possible!

posted 10-24-2004 11:16 AM               

Gene Cernan was indeed photographed as Apollo-14 backup in 1971, the date is correct. The photo was made in January, one week prior to the flight.

And the S71- Apollo-17 photo was made in late 1971, when Cernan was already assigned to that flight but the Apollo-17 mission emblem was obviously not ready yet.

This 1971 photo of Cernan is part of a series of all active astronauts, who had two new portraits made in late 1971, one in business suit and one in spacesuit. Except astronauts who had just completed a flight and already had a current portrait, such as the Apollo-13 and 14 crews. These were only photographed in business suit. This explains why guys like McDivitt were photographed in a J-mission suit; probably his Apollo-9 suit was no longer available.

Ed