Gemini 7 (GT-7), launched on December 4, 1965, was piloted by Frank F. Borman and James A. Lovell. Initially, Gemini 7 was scheduled to take place after Gemini 6, but the original Gemini 6 mission was canceled due to the launch failure of the
Agena Target Vehicle, which it was supposed to rendezvous with. Since rendezvous was a key objective of the Gemini program, it was decided that Gemini 6 would launch just days after Gemini 7, using the latter as its target for the rendezvous.
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| A GT-7 launch cover from "Orbit Covers" postmarked at Cape Canaveral on December 4, 1965, signed by James Lovell and Frank Borman. |
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| Photo: Frank Borman and James Lovell meeting with the press on July 6, 1965, for their first official conference since being announced as the crew for the mission on June 1, 1965. |
The original mission of Gemini 7 remained largely unchanged with these new plans, as it was always intended to be a long-duration flight aimed at studying the effects of two weeks in space on the human body.
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| Photo: Electrodes were placed on Frank Borman's head during the 14-day spaceflight. The data collected from these electrodes will assist doctors in understanding how weightlessness impacts alertness, consciousness, and sleep. |
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| Photo: James Lovell and Frank Borman undergo another round of checks at Cape Kennedy on December 3, 1965. |
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| A GT-7 launch cover featuring a Kennedy Space Center NASA official cachet designed specifically for the mission, postmarked with a Kennedy Space Center machine cancel on December 4, 1965. |
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| Photo: Backup pilots Edward White and Michael Collins inspect the equipment on the Gemini 7 spacecraft on the morning of the launch. |
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| A GT-7 launch cover from "Centennial" postmarked at Cape Canaveral on December 4, 1965. |
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| A GT-7 launch cover from "Astro Covers" postmarked at Cape Canaveral on December 4, 1965. |
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| A GT-7 launch cover from "Sarzin" postmarked at Cape Canaveral on December 4, 1965. |
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| A GT-7 launch cover from "SpaceCraft Swanson" postmarked at Cape Canaveral on launch day, December 4, 1965, signed by James Lovell and Frank Borman. |
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| Photo: A closer view of the Gemini 6a spacecraft during rendezvous with the Gemini 7 spacecraft. |
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| A GT-7 rendezvous cover from "Astro Covers" featuring a cachet that illustrates the Gemini 7 and 6A spacecraft rendezvous in space, postmarked at Cape Canaveral on December 15, 1965. |
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| Photo: Frank Borman and James Lovell demonstrated that two astronauts could coexist in a confined spacecraft while maintaining good communication. Their 14-day GT-7 flight matched the duration required for a round trip to the Moon. |
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| Photo: GT-7 splashed down in the Atlantic Ocean on December 18, 1965. |
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| A GT-7 recovery cover from the USS Wasp, featuring a magenta “Morris Beck” rubber-stamped cachet and a machine cancel dated December 18, 1965, with a black “USS Wasp” stamped cachet on the reverse. The cover includes a letter addressed to Dwight Owen Coons, Deputy Medical Director at the NASA Manned Spacecraft Center. |
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| Photo: James Lovell and Frank Borman hoisted from the life raft to the recovery helicopter. |
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| Two unused postcards featuring the USS Wasp recovery ship from the GT-7 mission. |
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| A GT-7 recovery ship cover from the USS Wasp, featuring a magenta “Morris Beck” rubber-stamped cachet and a machine cancel dated December 18, 1965, featuring a Beck rubber-stamped cachet. It is signed by Frank Borman and James Lovell. |
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| A GT-7 recovery cover with a printed cachet by “Morris Beck” designated B604, was originally intended for the USS Waldron. However, this particular cover was forwarded to the USS Wasp instead. |
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| Photo: James Lovell and Frank Borman aboard USS Wasp. |
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| A GT-7 recovery cover from the USS Wasp, featuring a magenta “Morris Beck” rubber-stamped cachet and a black “USS Wasp” stamped cachet, with a hand cancel dated December 18, 1965. |
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| Photo: James Lovell enjoys his first meal aboard the USS Wasp after returning from his record-setting space flight. |
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| A GT-7 Captain's Cover from the USS Wasp featuring a hand cancel dated December 18, 1965. It is signed by James Lovell, Frank Borman, executive officer Cdr. J. M. Wondergrem, commanding officer Captain Gordon E. Hartley and helicopter pilot Commander Norman H. McLaughlin. |
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| A GT-7 Captain's Cover from the USS Wasp featuring a corner card and a hand cancel dated December 18, 1965, signed by the ship's commanding officer, Captain Gordon E. Hartley, and Helicopter Recovery Pilot Commander Norman H. McLaughlin. |
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| A USS Wasp CVS-18 patch commemorating the recovery of the Gemini 4, 6, and 7 missions, manufactured by Hilborn Hamburger. |
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| Photo: Frank Borman and James Lovell greeted by the Gemini 6A crew, Thomas Stafford and Walter Schirra, at Cape Kennedy on December 19, 1965. |
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| Photo: The Gemini 7 astronauts return home for Christmas. |
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| Photo: Japanese Prime Minister Eisaku Sato received a color photograph of the Gemini rendezvous in space from Gemini 7's command pilot, Frank Borman, in Tokyo. Borman and Walter Schirra, the command pilot of Gemini 6, visited the prime minister as part of their goodwill tour of the Far East. |
(Reference from
Gemini 7)
