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Author
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Topic: Photo of the week 956 (February 18, 2023)
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heng44
Member Posts: 3654
From: Netherlands
Registered: Nov 2001
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posted 02-17-2023 02:26 PM
   
 A portrait of astronaut Rusty Schweickart, made by NASA photographer John Holland. In the fall of 1964 Holland made similar formal business suit portraits of the entire astronaut corps, then consisting of the first three selection groups. Holland always wanted to make the men look as good as possible, so he fashioned fake cuffs from stiff white paper and fastened them with square gold cuff links with a Mercury capsule. (Thanks to John Bisney.) |
carmelo
Member Posts: 1105
From: Messina, Sicilia, Italia
Registered: Jun 2004
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posted 02-17-2023 11:29 PM
I love the crew cut hairstyle of Rusty; i think that he wasn't well with long hairs in 70s. |
oly
Member Posts: 1442
From: Perth, Western Australia
Registered: Apr 2015
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posted 02-17-2023 11:42 PM
Thank again for sharing a great image Ed, I have often wondered why NASA used photographs of astronauts dressed like this as PR. I guess it was a tool to show that American astronauts reflected the clean cut. All American stereotypes of the time.Today almost every crew portrait has them dressed in flight suits, space suits, or mission-specific branding and the lighting techniques are far more flattering than the 1960s studio lighting. |
NavyPilot
Member Posts: 89
From: USA
Registered: Nov 2015
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posted 02-18-2023 09:34 AM
Well, in 1964 business suits were standard professional wear for many or most occasions. By 1968, sports jackets were to the fore, and after about 1970 dress habits got really relaxed. It's only in about the past 35 years or so that many flying organizations (including the military) began to endorse flight suits for public engagements away from the flight line, finally recognizing I think that the bag actually was a favorable PR device in and of itself.I get a kick out of the pics where astronauts are wearing their street shoes with flight suits. I wonder why Deke wouldn't spring for flight boots? I mean, by my count at its peak in 1969 the Astronaut Office only had 57 souls on board. Or maybe they just were too bulky to carry in a T-38. |
MartinAir
Member Posts: 277
From:
Registered: Oct 2020
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posted 02-18-2023 09:48 AM
WOW, fake cuffs from a paper?! Ingenious and effective improvisation. I think I saw/have one NASA photo of Deke posing in front of his T-38 and wearing cowboy boots with flight suit. Believe it was taken in the 70's during the ALT program though. |
Rocketman!
Member Posts: 161
From: Redmond, Washington, USA
Registered: Dec 2007
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posted 02-18-2023 12:00 PM
Am I correct in thinking that the majority of these types of portraits were done with spacecraft models and/or globes? I wonder what that magazine is, and why it might have been chosen in this instance. |
Philip
Member Posts: 6198
From: Brussels, Belgium
Registered: Jan 2001
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posted 02-19-2023 05:41 AM
Don't forget, for officer cadets business suits were standard professional wear for activities in civil life!One of five different official NASA Russell Schweickart portraits. |
Robert Pearlman
Editor Posts: 50083
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 03-09-2023 08:17 PM
quote:
Originally posted by oly:
Today almost every crew portrait has them dressed in flight suits, space suits, or mission-specific branding...
I just recently came across again the 2013 astronaut candidate portraits and was reminded of this thread: they posed both in business suits and casual business wear before later being photographed in flight suits. |
Headshot
Member Posts: 1189
From: Vancouver, WA, USA
Registered: Feb 2012
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posted 03-10-2023 11:29 AM
Just a guess to answer Rocketman's question, but I believe that magazine is a copy of Aviation Week & Space Technology. Back then, the cover always had a white rectangle in the upper right hand corner in which they listed several other articles (beside the cover article). My guess is that they used it because it was lying around nearby. |
Rocketman!
Member Posts: 161
From: Redmond, Washington, USA
Registered: Dec 2007
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posted 03-10-2023 04:44 PM
I think that’s a great guess from Headshot. Looking through the online archive for AvWeek in 1964, I think the June 29 issue may be a close match given the word spacing as well as the red text color of the last lines in the white square, given what can be made out from the low resolution of the portrait photo. |
Headshot
Member Posts: 1189
From: Vancouver, WA, USA
Registered: Feb 2012
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posted 03-10-2023 05:16 PM
Nice detective work. The back cover ad matches too. |
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