In 2014, one of the relics from the dawn of the space age resurfaced at auction. Listed as “The First Hasselblad In Space,” it was the genesis camera — the blueprint for all cameras that flew to the surface of the moon, and the beginning of Hasselblad’s storied connection with NASA that lasted through the shuttle-era. That is, until, a second “first” camera appeared.

Replicating the First Hasselblad in Space, a stepping-stone to the moon camera. It was 1962. Astronaut Wally Schirra needed a camera for his mission as the third American to orbit the Earth. A photography enthusiast, he picked up a Hasselblad 500C from his local camera store and worked with NASA engineers and a contractor from RCA to modify it for space flight.