Gemini IX-A
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Date With an Alligator: The Trials of Gemini IX-A (Part 2)
Almost five decades ago, one of the hairiest and most difficult missions in America’s space history unfolded. Gemini IX-A was already complex—a three-day flight, involving rendezvous, docking, maneuvering, and spacewalking—but had endured additional challenges: the death of its prime crew in an aircraft accident and the destruction of its primary docking target in a launch […] More
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Popeye Forearms: The Challenge of Gemini IX-A (Part 1)
In the late spring of 1966, the Gemini IX mission seemed hamstrung by bad luck. When its prime crew, Elliot See and Charlie Bassett, was named in November of the previous year, they expected it to be breathtaking in its pace and challenge. With three days in space, a lengthy spacewalk, a rendezvous, and a docking […] More
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Triumph of the Mark One Cranium Computer: The Flight of Gemini XII (Part 2)
Almost four decades ago, on 11 November 1966, astronauts Jim Lovell and Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin rocketed into orbit aboard Gemini XII to complete a four-day mission which would demonstrate many of the capabilities that NASA would someday need for the first piloted landing on the Moon. As noted in yesterday’s history article, the astronauts completed […] More
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in AmericaSpace, Spaceflight, Space, Gemini, Ben Evans
Triumph of the Mark One Cranium Computer: The Flight of Gemini XII (Part 1)
Not long after his return from the Gemini IX-A mission, astronaut Gene Cernan was summoned to Deke Slayton’s office and was asked an unusual question. “Geno, how soon can you be ready to fly again?” “Just say the word, Deke. When?” “Right now. Would you be willing to jump from backup to prime? Fly [Gemini] […] More
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‘M Equals 1’: The All-Up Mission of Gemini XI (Part 1)
Not all astronauts get on with one another, but if there ever was a crew whose members could be described as best buddies, it would be Gemini XI’s Charles “Pete” Conrad and Dick Gordon. Their friendship pre-dated their NASA days, back to a time in the late 1950s when they served together aboard the aircraft […] More
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in NASA, Spaceflight, Space, Gemini, Spacecraft Films
Spacecraft Films: Gemini IX’s Recovery
[youtube_video] http://youtu.be/TAgP8zfjaEY [/youtube_video] Video courtesy of Spacecraft Films On June 6, 1966, the Gemini IX-A crew returned to Earth under the parachutes of their Gemini spacecraft; thus drawing to a close one of the most complex and dangerous missions in human space flight history. The mission had already lost its prime crew in an aircraft […] More
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in NASA, Spaceflight, Space, KSC, Kennedy Space Center, Gemini, Space Exploration, Exploration, Spacecraft Films
Spacecraft Films: The Launches of Gemini IX-A
[youtube_video]http://youtu.be/mOdcUwlWBDc[/youtube_video] Video courtesy of Spacecraft Films On June 3, 1966, the Gemini IX-A crew thundered into orbit—and the history books—atop their Titan launch vehicle from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. It would become one of the most complex and dangerous missions in human space flight history. The mission had already lost its prime […] More