Gemini VII launched 1965

Gemini VII Crew: Jim Lovell, Frank Borman

Mission patch

Gemini VII, launched December 4, 1965, was fourth manned Gemini flight and the twelfth manned American space flight.  Her crew, Frank Borman and James Lovell spent almost 14 days in space.

While in space they tried to solve problems that extended space flights would encounter such as stowage of waste, and nuntrition in space.  Their new lightweight spacesuite became uncomfortable when worn for a long time (duh.  Anything becomes uncomfortable after a while).  Borman and Lovell took Pete Conrad's advice and took books to read.

That advice was well-taken since the last three days were "bad" according to Borman.  They had finished their tests and the excitement of rendevouzing with Gemini VI was over.  So they were doing little more than orbiting Earth and reading.

They splashed down December 18 and were recovered by the USS Wasp.

Wally Schirra, Mercury, Gemini and Apollo astronaut, born 1923

Walter Marty (Wally) Schirra, Jr., born March 12, 1923, was the only person to fly
in the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo programs.  October 23, 1962, Schirra flew on Mercury-Atlas 8, orbiting Earth six times in a little over nine hours.

His second trip was commanding Gemini 6A with Tom Stafford, December 15, 1965 when they rendezvoused with Frank Borman and James Lovell aboard Gemini 7.

Schirra became the first person to go to space three times on Apollo 7, launched October 11, 1968.  He commanded the mission with Donn F. Eisele and R. Walter Cunningham.  They replaced the original crew of Gus Grissom, Ed White and Roger Chaffee who perished in a fire during a ground test  in the Apollo 1 capsule.

He retired from NASA after this mission.  He joined Walter Cronkite as a consultant on seven Apollo missions.

Wally Schirra passed away May 3, 2007 from a heart attack he suffered during surgery for abdominal cancer.

Gemini 6A launched (finally) 1965

Gemini VI-A crew: Pilot Thomas P. Stafford, Command Pilot Walter M. Schirra, Jr.

Gemini VI-A launched December 15, 1965, just eleven days after Gemini 7 lifted off December 4.  The original launch for Gemini VI-A had been scheduled for October 25.  The mission was to rendezvous and dock with the Agena Target Vehicle.  But shortly after the unmanned Agena was launched, a catastrophic failure occured and it exploded over the Atlantic Ocean.  Walter M. Schirra, Jr and Thomas P. Stafford were already in Gemini VI-A when the mission was scrubbed.

After looking at the situation, NASA decided to alter the mission, and have Gemini VI-A rendezvous with Gemini 7.  The spacecraft would not actually dock, since they were not designed for such a maneuver but would 'rendezvous' which meant they would come close to each other.

The vehicles came within one foot of each other while talking over the radio.

Before returning to Earth, Schirra noticed a UFO moving south in a polar orbit:

Gemini VI is a (no) go! 1965

Crew of Gemini VI: Tom Stafford and Wally Schirra

The Gemini VI Agena Target Vehicle, launched from Cape Canaveral, October 25, 1965, was intended to be used by the Gemini VI crew, Walter Shirra and Tom Stafford.  Although the unmanned craft launched successfully, a mere 6 minutes after launch, an "anomaly occured" and telemetry and radar beacon were lost.  NASA tried to re-establish contact but were unable.  Patrick AFB radar "picked up 5 pieces" of debris where Agena was supposed to be.

Schirra and Staffrod had been waiting in Gemini VI to launch 101 minutes after Agena, but the mission was cancelled.

On December 15, 1965, the two-man crew in Gemini VI rendezvoused with Frank Borman and James Lovell in Gemini VII, a crucial success in getting to the moon.