1950s-70s Space Race to The Moon: 1966-09-12 USA Gemini 11

1966 GT-11 Orbit Covers cachet cover with launch day postmark. Signed by Charles Conrad and Richard Gordon. Canceled in Cape Canaveral on launch day September 12, 1966.

Gemini 11 (GT-11), launched on September 12, 1966, was the ninth Gemini manned flight crewed by Charles "Pete" Conrad Jr. and Richard F. Gordon Jr. The crew performed the first direct-ascent (first orbit) rendezvous with an Agena Target Vehicle, docking with it 1 hour 34 minutes after launch.


Photo: Gemini 11 crew, Richard Gordon and Charles Conrad.

Photo: A double exposure on the same film - Agena Atlas rocket launch followed by the Gemini 11 titan rocket launch on September 12, 1966.

Gemini 11 official NASA cachet on covers with Kennedy Space Center machine and hand cancels, postmarked on launch day September 12, 1966. Top: signed by Charles Conrad and Richard Gordon.

Photo: A 100-foot tether connecting the Gemini 11 spacecraft with the Agena target to prove the feasibility of tying two spacecrafts together in order to conserve fuel.

Gordon also performed two extra-vehicular activities for a total of 2 hours 41 minutes. The first EVA involved fastening a 100-foot (30 m) tether, stored in the Agena's docking collar, to the Gemini's docking bar for the passive stabilization experiment. Gordon achieved this, but as with previous Gemini EVAs, trying to do work for an extended period proved more fatiguing than in ground simulation, and the EVA had to be terminated after only half an hour. Gordon successfully performed a second EVA standing up with his head and shoulders out of the hatch to photograph the Earth, clouds, and stars. This was not tiring and lasted more than two hours.

Gemini 11 launch cover with Swanson cachet, postmarked on launch day September 12, 1966. Signed by Charles Conrad and Richard Gordon.


Photo: Richard Gordon performing extra-vehicular activities (EVA) in space.

The mission ended with the first totally automatic, computer-controlled reentry by the U.S., which brought Gemini 11 down 2.8 miles (4.5 km) from its recovery ship USS Guam, only 1.5 miles (2.4 km) from the planned position.

Photo: Gemini 11 crew photographed the Earth during the mission.

Gemini 11 NASA cachet proof (in maroon) on cover postmarked at Cape Canaveral on recovery day, September 15, 1966.

Photo: Charles Conrad and Richard Gordon leaving their Gemini 11 capsule after splashdown in the Atlantic.

Gemini 11 USS Guam crew cover with Beck rubber stamped cachet, postmarked on September 15, 1966.

Photo: "HELICOPTER HOISTS CONRAD. Recovery helicopter hoists Charles (Pete) Conrad, command pilot of the record-breaking Gemini 11, from the capsule for delivery to the deck of the USS Guam today. Conrad and Richard Gordon, who rode Gemini 11 850 miles from earth yesterday, made a near-pinpoint landing in the Atlantic Ocean using automatic controls. (APWirephoto by radio from USS Guam), September 15, 1966."

Gemini 11 USS Guam recovery ship cover with Beck rubber stamped cachet, signed by Captain Stephen Thomas De La Mater, the Gemini crew's signatures are autopen. The ship's cachet is applied at the back of the cover.