John Glenn's $40 Camera Revolutionizes Space Missions.
John Glenn's $40 Ansco Autoset camera, purchased from a drugstore, played a pivotal role in shaping the future of space exploration and set the stage for space photography. Glenn modified the camera with the help of NASA engineers to make it usable with his bulky astronaut gloves. During his three-orbit mission that lasted 4 hours and 55 minutes, John Glenn took the first human-captured colored still photographs of the Earth using this camera. The impact these photographs had on the world resonated with the public, and NASA quickly realized the importance photography would play in their future space missions.