Soyuz 9, launched June 1, 1970, was a two-man mission that lasted 18 days, breaking the record set by Gemini VII about 5 years before. Its crew consisted of Commander Andriyan Nikolayev and Flight Engineer Vitaly Sevastyanov.
To conserve attitude control gas, Soyuz 9 was placed in a "spin-stabilization mode" which made the crew dizzy and space sick. Upon their return to Earth June 19, they needed help exiting the landing module and were not able to walk for several days.
Jim Lovell, born March 25, 1928 in Cleveland, Ohio, made two flights in NASA's Gemini program and two in the Apollo program, including the Apollo 13 mission. He was the first person to go into space four times, is one of twenty-four people to fly to the moon, and one of three people to fly to the moon twice, although he did not make a landing.
His first mission was pilot on Gemini VII with Command Pilot Frank Borman in December 1965, and they spent 14 days in orbit.
His second flight was as Commander of Gemini XII with pilot Buzz Aldrin in November 1966. They performed three EVAs and conducted the fourth space docking with the Agena target vehicle, proving men could work outside a spacecraft, which paved the way for sending men to the moon.
His third flight was on Apollo 8 as Command Module Pilot with Frank Borman and William Anders in December 1968. It was the second manned mission of the Apollo program and the first to leave Earth's orbit, reach the moon, orbit it and then return safely to Earth.
Lovell's fourth and final flight was as Commander aboard Apollo 13, with Jack Swigert and Fred Haise in April 1970. The disaster that occurred during the mission has been immortalized in the movie Apollo 13. Tom Hanks portrayed Jim Lovell in the movie. Lovell is the one who uttered the famous phrase: "Houston, we've had a problem."
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.
Frank Frederic Borman II, born March 14, 1928, is a veteran of the Gemini and Apollo programs. He flew on Gemini 7 in 1965 with James Lovell, setting a record the time of 14 days in space. They performed maneuvers with Gemini 6A bringing the spacecrafts within 1 foot of each other.
Later, he was part of the Apollo 8 crew with James Lovell and William Anders, December 1968.
As of Jon Glenn's death in December 2016, Borman is the oldest living astronaut.
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:
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.
