The prime crew for the Gemini-VIII mission Richard F. gordon, Jr and Charles Conrad, Jr.
The prime crew for the Gemini-VIII mission Richard F. gordon, Jr and Charles Conrad, Jr.
Astronauts Charles Conrad, Jr. and Richard F. gordon, Jr. the prime crewmmbers for the Gemini-XI mission were selected on March 21, 1966 together with the back-up crew: Neil Armstrong and Bill Anders.
Gemini-XI was launched on September 12, 1966 at 09:42:26.5 am. One and a half hour earlier a Atlas-Agena target vehicle was launched at 08:05:02 am. Gemini-XI had an ambitious flight plan and most of the mission objectives were achieved. One of the most important accomplishments of the flight was the succesful rendezvous and docking with the Agena target vehicle during the spacecraft's first revolution.
Another important achievement of the Gemini-XI mission was that of attaining the highest altitude ever reached in a manned flight. During the second day of the mission, and while docked with the Agena, the Agena's primary propulsion system was fired up and boosted the combined vehicles into an elliptical orbit with an apogee of 739.2 miles and a perigee of 156.3 miles.
Astronaut Dick Gordon completed fastening the tether to the spacecraft's docking bar during his umbilical EVA at the expense of a great amount of energy and the crew decided to terminate that activity because of pilot fatigue. The hatch was open for 33 minutes.
Shortly after the third day of the flight was started, the Gemini-XI crew racked up another first. They undocked from the Agena and started a successful tethered operation. The two spacecraft made about two revolutions around the earth while fastened together.
There were other notable achievements of the Gemini-XI flight. For the first time in manned space flight history the rendezvous was accomplished by using onboard computers. Docking practice was carried out for the first time in space as both the command pilot and the pilot performed the docking maneuvers twice.
Another important first - the automatic reentry - was attempted for the first time in the Gemini program. Retrofire occurred over the Canton Island tracking station at 70 hours, 41 minutes, and 36 seconds MET. The splash down was about 35 minutes later, approximately one-and-a-half miles from the prime recovery ship, the USS Guam. Conrad and Gordon were taken to the USS Guam by helicopter 24 minutes after they landed, and the spacecraft was retrieved 59 minutes after landing.
The prime and back-up crews for the Gemini-XI mission.