The camera Hasselblad 500c, which used to capture the first recognizable snapshot of the Earth from space, was sold at auction for $ 275,000, the Boston auction house, RR auction confirmed. Astronaut Wally Schirra accidentally chose Hasselblad with Zeiss lens in photo supply shop in Houston in 1962, and he used it on missions Mercury-Atlas 8 and 9, in 1962 and the following year. The camera has been adapted to accommodate a film with 100 shots and is painted in matte-black so there would be no glare when shooting through a window of the aircraft.
Hasselblad 500c is a top-notch camera in that time and cost more than $ 400, said Bobby Livingston from RR Auction, adding that it significantly improved the quality of images from space.
The seller at the auction was a collector from California who bought a camera from astronaut Gordon Cooper, who is believed to used it on a mission to Mercury-Atlas 9.
The camera was sold at auction to an unnamed buyer from the UK for whom Livingston says he understands the historical significance of the device.
