Cover of LIFE: The First US Space Walk by Ed White, 3-7 June 1965

Vintage chromogenic print on fiber-based paper, printed 1965 Vintage chromogenic print on fiber-based paper, printed 1965,, numbered "NASA S-65-30428" (NASA MSC) in red in top margin, with "A KODAK PAPER" watermark on verso (NASA MSC), 20,3 x 25,4 cm

Within days of splashdown, McDivitt’s pictures appeared in newspapers and magazines around the world, marking a turning point in the role photography played in the space program and in the popular conception of manned space exploration. (Schick and Van Haaften, p. 13)

“I wasn’t the only one who felt the power of those images from space. Countless people saw them and understood their basic message: this was the edge of human experience.”
Space historian Andrew Chaikin (Chaikin, Space, p. 12).

[original NASA caption for the photograph]
Astronaut Edward H. White II, Pilot of the Gemini IV four-day Earth-orbital mission, floats in the zero gravity of space outside the Gemini IV spacecraft. White wears a specially designed spacesuit; and the visor of the helmet is gold plated to protect him against the unfiltered rays of the Sun. He wears an emergency oxygen pack, also. He is secured to the spacecraft by a 25-feet umbilical line and a 23-feet tether line, both wrapped in gold tape to form one cord. In his right hand is a Hand-Held Self-Maneuvering Unit (HHSMU) with which he controls his movements in space. Astronaut James A. McDivitt, Command Pilot of the mission, remained inside the spacecraft.

Literature:
LIFE, 18 June 1965, cover; NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC, September 1965, pp. 444-445.