Gemini XI, launched September 12, 1966, was the ninth manned spaceflight of NASA's Gemini program. Its crew consisted of Command Pilot Pete Conrad and Pilot Richard Gordon. During the flight, Gordon performed two EVAs, the first on September 13 for 33 minutes, and the second on September 14 for 2 hours 8 minutes.
Astronaut Richard "Dick" Gordon, veteran of the Gemini and Apollo programs, passed away yesterday in California at the age of 88. He was born October 5, 1929 in Seattle and received a Bachelor's Degree in Chemistry(!) in 1951 from the University of Washington.
His first flight was aboard Gemini XI with Pete Conrad. They docked with the Agena Target Vehicle on the first orbit, only an hour and 34 minutes after launch, the first time attempting this maneuver. Dick performed two EVAs for a total of 2 hours and 41 minutes.
His second and final flight was aboard Apollo 12, which was struck by lightning during takeoff, but made it to the moon safely. Gordon orbited the moon in the Lunar Orbiter while Pete Conrad and Alan Bean walked on the moon.
He was assigned backup commander for Apollo 15 and was to walk on the moon during the Apollo 18 mission but that flight was cancelled.
Richard "Dick" Gordon, born October 5, 1929 in Seattle, Washington, is one of only 24 men who have been to the moon. He got a degree in Chemistry from the University of Washington and then went on to become a pilot in the military.
He was selected as an astronaut candidate in 1963 and was back-up pilot for Gemini VIII. His first space flight was as pilot of Gemini XI, with Pete Conrad.
Gordon was Command Module Pilot for Apollo 12 in November 1969, with Alan Bean and Pete Conrad. He remained in orbit above the moon taking pictures of possible future landing sites, while his comrades were strolling around the Ocean of Storms.
He was inducted into the Astronaut Hall of Fame March 19, 1993.
Commander Charles "Pete" Conrad, Jr.; Command Module Pilot Richard F. Gordon, Jr.; Lunar Module Pilot Alan L. Bean
Apollo 12, the second manned mission to the moon, launched November 14, 1969, but was struck by lightning twice during take-off. The crew had a narrow margin in which to launch to reach the moon, but bad weather threatened to delay take-off.
The first strike, 36 seconds after launch, triggered overload false alarms and took all three fuel cells off-line. It also shut off much of the Command Service Module instrumentations. The second strike, at 52 seconds knocked out the altitude indicator, but the Saturn V flew correctly.
Alan Bean remembered the Signal Conditioning Equipment (SCE) switch during training a year prior in which this problem had been simulated. the fuel cells went back on line and telemetry was restored. Teh mission continued and was completed successfully.
