Gemini 10 and 11

The words

1. Agena

   For Gemini 10 and 11, an Agena provided both a docking target and an engine. Once joined, the spacecraft used Agena propulsion to change their orbits.

   NASA: Gemini 11’s Agena and high orbit (opens a new tab) · NASA: Gemini 10’s targets and photography (opens a new tab)

2. Collector

   Collins retrieved a micrometeorite collector from Gemini 8’s old Agena during Gemini 10. Its surfaces recorded impacts from tiny space particles and collected debris for study.

   NASA: Gemini 10’s targets and photography (opens a new tab) · NASA experiment S010: particle impacts (opens a new tab)

3. Dick Gordon

   Richard Gordon was Gemini 11’s pilot. He worked outside the spacecraft on one excursion and took photographs from the open hatch on another.

   Did you know?

   Conrad and Gordon flew together again on Apollo 12. Conrad commanded the mission, while Gordon served as its command module pilot.

   NASA: Gordon and the Gemini 11 crew (opens a new tab)

4. Eye Irritation

   During Collins’s standup spacewalk on Gemini 10, both he and Young developed eye irritation. Young called for an early end to the photography session.

   NASA: Gemini 10 mission and spacewalks (opens a new tab)

5. First Orbit

   Gemini 11 reached its Agena 85 minutes after launch and docked nine minutes later. The first-orbit meeting tested an approach planned for Apollo’s lunar missions.

   NASA: Gemini 11’s rendezvous and tether (opens a new tab)

6. Gemini Eleven

   Pete Conrad and Richard Gordon flew Gemini 11 in September 1966. They practiced docking and undocking and completed a computer-guided reentry at the end of the mission.

   Did you know?

   With Gemini 11 and the Agena tethered together, slow rotation produced a tiny artificial-gravity effect. It was too weak for the crew to feel, but a camera drifted toward the cabin’s rear.

   NASA: Gemini 11’s rendezvous and tether (opens a new tab)

7. Gemini Ten

   John Young and Michael Collins flew Gemini 10 from July 18 to 21, 1966. The mission combined docking, a second rendezvous and two different kinds of spacewalk.

   NASA: Gemini 10 mission and spacewalks (opens a new tab)

8. Guadalcanal

   USS Guadalcanal recovered Young and Collins after Gemini 10’s Atlantic splashdown on July 21, 1966. A helicopter carried them from the ocean to the ship’s deck.

   NASA: Gemini 10’s targets and photography (opens a new tab)

9. High Altitude

   Gemini 11 used the Agena’s engine to raise its orbital high point to about 850 miles. After two orbits, the crew used the Agena again to return to a lower orbit.

   NASA: Gemini 11’s Agena and high orbit (opens a new tab)

10. Launch Window

    The interval when a launch can meet its intended flight plan.

    To reach its Agena during the first orbit, Gemini 11 had to launch within a two-second window. The launch team met that demanding timing requirement.

    NASA: Gemini 11’s rendezvous and tether (opens a new tab)

11. Mike Collins

    Michael Collins’s two Gemini 10 spacewalks involved different work: photography from the open hatch, followed by an excursion to Gemini 8’s old Agena.

    NASA: Gemini 10 mission and spacewalks (opens a new tab)

12. Milky Way

    Collins stood in Gemini 10’s open hatch to photograph the southern Milky Way in ultraviolet light. He took 22 images as part of the mission’s astronomy work.

    NASA: Gemini 10’s targets and photography (opens a new tab)

13. Passive Target

    A target approached without active help from its own systems.

    Gemini 8’s old Agena became Gemini 10’s second rendezvous target. The dormant vehicle remained in orbit while Young maneuvered the Gemini nearby and Collins worked outside.

    NASA: Gemini 10’s targets and photography (opens a new tab)

14. Ride 'em Cowboy

    Conrad used this remark while Gordon sat astride the docking area to attach a tether between Gemini 11 and the Agena during his spacewalk.

    NASA: Gemini 11’s Agena and high orbit (opens a new tab)

15. USS Guam

    A helicopter from USS Guam collected Conrad and Gordon after Gemini 11’s Atlantic splashdown on September 15, 1966. It then carried them to the recovery ship.

    NASA: Gemini 11’s Agena and high orbit (opens a new tab)