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| A GT-10 launch cover from "Orbit Covers" featuring a Cape Canaveral hand cancel dated July 18, 1966, signed by Michael Collins and John Young. The cover was formerly part of Michael Collins’s personal collection. - Heritage Auctions |
Gemini 10 (GT-10), launched on July 18, 1966, was the eighth manned flight of the Gemini program, featuring crew members John W. Young and Michael Collins. The mission aimed to achieve rendezvous and docking with an Agena Target Vehicle (ATV), as well as conduct an Extravehicular Activity (EVA). It also intended to dock with the ATV used in the Gemini 8 mission, which had lost battery power months earlier. This approach and docking would demonstrate the capability to rendezvous with a passive object. Additionally, it marked the first mission to fire the Agena's own rocket, enabling the crew to reach higher orbits.
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| Photo: The Gemini 10 crew, John Young and Michael Collins. |
Gemini 10 demonstrated that radiation at high altitudes posed no significant issues. After successfully docking with their Agena booster in low orbit, Young and Collins used it to ascend to an altitude of 412.4 nautical miles (763.8 km). Following their first Agena mission, they then executed a rendezvous with the abandoned Agena from the aborted Gemini 8 flight, marking the program's first double rendezvous. Without any onboard power in the second Agena, they completed this rendezvous using visual navigation—no radar was utilized. After connecting with the derelict Agena via a 50-foot (15 m) tether, Collins became the first person to approach another spacecraft in orbit. He retrieved a cosmic dust-collecting panel from the side of the Agena. However, while focusing on managing his tether, Collins' Hasselblad camera came loose and drifted away, preventing him from taking any photographs during the spacewalk.
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| A GT-10 launch cover from "Orbit Covers" featuring a Cape Canaveral machine cancel dated July 18, 1966, and signed by Michael Collins and John Young. |
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| Photo: John Young and Michael Collins reviewing the Gemini 10 flight plans for their upcoming spaceflight. Collins is set to conduct a 55-minute spacewalk during the mission. |
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| A GT-10 launch cover features a Kennedy Space Center NASA official cachet designed specifically for the mission, postmarked with a Kennedy Space Center machine cancel on July 18, 1966, signed by Michael Collins and John Young. The cover was formerly part of Michael Collins’s personal collection. - Heritage Auctions |
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| Photo: John Young and Michael Collins inspecting the equipment that will be used for conducting experiments during the Gemini 10 mission. |
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| A GT-10 Agena Target Vehicle launch cover postmarked on July 18, 1966. It is signed by Agena System Engineer, Melvin F. Brooks.
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| Photo: John Young and Michael Collins secured in their Gemini 10 spacecraft as staff prepares for the launch. |
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| Photo: (Left) The launch of Gemini 10. (Right) An illustration depicting the three-day orbital voyage of Gemini 10. |
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| A GT-10 launch cover from "SpaceCraft Swanson" postmarked at Patrick Air Force Base on July 18, 1966, signed by Michael Collins and John Young. - RRAuction |
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| Photo: The diagram illustrates the key operations that Gemini 10 and Agena 10 have performed during their mission. The Gemini and Agena successfully docked early in the flight, and then, with a powerful engine burn, the combined spacecraft ascended to a new altitude record of 476 miles. |
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| Two GT-10 Captain’s Covers from the USS Guadalcanal in different envelope sizes, postmarked on July 21, 1966. The lower cover bears autopen signatures of Michael Collins and John Young. |
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| Photo: John Young and Michael Collins being hoisted from the life raft into the recovery helicopter for transfer to the USS Guadalcanal recovery ship. |
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| A GT-10 Crew Cover (Type 2) on ship's stationery from the USS Guadalcanal, featuring a black “Morris Beck” rubber-stamped cachet and postmarked on July 21, 1966. |
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| Photo: John Young and Michael Collins aboard the USS Guadalcanal. |
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| A GT-10 recovery cover with a printed cachet by “Morris Beck” designated B671, was originally intended for the USS Severn. However, this particular cover was forwarded to the USS Guadalcanal instead. |
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| Photo: John Young signs a life preserver for a sailor on the recovery ship Guadalcanal. |
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| A GT-10 recovery cover with a printed “United States Aircraft Carrier” cachet and a black “Morris Beck” rubber-stamped cachet, postmarked on July 21, 1966, aboard the USS Guadalcanal. |
(Reference from
Gemini 10)
