Since 1962, Hasselblad cameras were the equipment of choice for NASA when it came to photographing, and even more so, documenting the unknown of space. A simple suggestion by photography enthusiast and mission pilot Walter Schirra to use a 500C on the Mercury 8 mission began the first page of a new chapter in the history of Hasselblad and a long, close, and mutually beneficial cooperation between the American space agency and the Swedish camera manufacturer.
APOLLO 11
But of all the missions that a Hasselblad camera was used on, it was Apollo 11 that was the greatest of them all – an iconic moment so extraordinary that saw the first humans step off our planet and onto another celestial body. Standing up against the intense temperatures and lack of gravity in space, the Hasselblad cameras captured this once in a lifetime moment flawlessly, letting the rest of Earth see what astronauts Aldrin and Armstrong experienced on the Moon.
HASSELBLAD DATA CAMERA
Taken onto the lunar surface was the silver Hasselblad Data Camera (HDC). Fitted with a Zeiss Biogon 60mm ƒ/5,6 lens and 70mm film magazine containing specially formulated thin-base Kodak film, it allowed for 200 images per magazine. Installed in the HDC was a Réseau plate, which optically imprinted fixed cross-marks that allowed for photogrammetric measurements to be made from the resulting negative. The HDC was specifically designed to cope with the rigors of the lunar surface; the silver paint colour was used to stabilize the camera when moving between temperatures ranging from -65° C (-85° F) to over 120° C (248° F). Armstrong carried out all the photography himself on the lunar surface with this HDC attached to his chest, which had never been tested in space before, adding to the pressure of this once in a lifetime moment.
HASSELBLAD ELECTRIC CAMERA
A second black Hasselblad Electric Camera (HEC) with a Zeiss Planar 80mm ƒ/2,8 lens was used to shoot from inside the Eagle lunar module. A third HEC was used by astronaut Michael Collins aboard the Command Module Columbia, which stayed in lunar orbit. It was the HEC used by Collins that was taken back to Earth, while the HDC and HEC used on the lunar surface and lunar module were left on the Moon to meet narrow weight margins for successful return. As far as we know, the latter two have been on the Moon since 1969.
