Camera, Television, Apollo 10, Backup

The first live television broadcasts from space were made with a black-and-white RCA television camera like this one. The first three Apollo missions used similar cameras. Apollo 10 and the lunar landing missions used color cameras, though this camera served as a backup to the camera used on Apollo 10.

Some astronauts objected to adding photography to their busy schedules, but their broadcasts drew millions of viewers and exposed the world to life in space-live on their home TVs. The cameras had lenses for different applications, including a telephoto lens to capture images of Earth from space.

NASA transferred this camera to the Museum in 1972.