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| A GT-11 launch cover from "Orbit Covers" postmarked at Cape Canaveral on September 12, 1966, signed by Charles Conrad and Richard Gordon. |
Gemini 11 (GT-11), launched on September 12, 1966, was the ninth crewed flight of the Gemini program, featuring astronauts Charles "Pete" Conrad Jr. and Richard F. Gordon Jr. The crew achieved the first direct-ascent rendezvous in the first orbit, successfully docking with the Agena Target Vehicle just 1 hour and 34 minutes after liftoff.
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| Photo: The Gemini 11 crew, Richard Gordon and Charles Conrad. |
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| A GT-11 launch cover featuring a Kennedy Space Center NASA official cachet designed specifically for the mission, postmarked with a Kennedy Space Center machine cancel on September 12, 1966, signed by Charles Conrad and Richard Gordon. |
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| Photo: Charles Conrad looks back to observe the technicians working on the hatch that was not sealed properly. |
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| Photo: A double exposure captured on the same film, featuring the launch of the Agena Atlas rocket followed by the launch of the Gemini 11 Titan rocket on September 12, 1966. |
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| A GT-11 launch cover featuring two Kennedy Space Center NASA official cachet proof in red and blue, postmarked with a Kennedy Space Center hand cancel on September 12, 1966. |
Richard Gordon conducted two extra-vehicular activities (EVAs), totaling 2 hours and 41 minutes. The first EVA involved attaching a 100-foot tether, stored in the Agena's docking collar, to the Gemini's docking bar for a passive stabilization experiment. Although he accomplished this task, the prolonged effort was more exhausting than in ground simulations, leading to a termination of the EVA after just half an hour. In his second EVA, Gordon stood with his head and shoulders out of the hatch to photograph the Earth, clouds, and stars, which was not tiring and lasted over two hours.
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| Photo: Richard Gordon approaches the Gemini 11 cabin after finishing an extravehicular experiment, during which he tethered the spacecraft to an unmanned Agena target at an altitude of 160 miles above the Earth, while flying over the Atlantic Ocean. |
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| Photo: A 100-foot tether connecting the Gemini 11 spacecraft to the Agena target, demonstrating the feasibility of linking two spacecraft together to conserve fuel. |
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| A GT-11 launch cover from "SpaceCraft Swanson" postmarked at Cape Canaveral September 12, 1966, signed by Charles Conrad and Richard Gordon. |
The mission concluded with the first fully automatic, computer-controlled reentry by the U.S., successfully bringing Gemini 11 down just 2.8 miles (4.5 km) from the recovery ship USS Guam, and only 1.5 miles (2.4 km) from the intended target location.
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| Photo: The Gemini 11 crew capturing photographs of the Earth during their mission. |
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| A GT-11 cover featuring a Kennedy Space Center NASA official cachet proof in maroon, postmarked at Cape Canaveral on September 15, 1966, the day of the GT-11 recovery. |
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| Photo: Charles Conrad and Richard Gordon exiting their Gemini 11 capsule following splashdown in the Atlantic Ocean. |
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| A GT-11 Crew Cover (Type 2) on ship's stationery from the USS Guam featuring a blue “Morris Beck” rubber-stamped cachet and postmarked on September 15, 1966. |
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| Photo: A recovery helicopter lifts Charles "Pete" Conrad, command pilot of the record-setting Gemini 11, from the capsule for transfer to the USS Guam recovery ship. Conrad and Richard Gordon achieved a near-pinpoint landing in the Atlantic Ocean using automatic controls. |
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| Two GT-11 recovery covers from the USS Guam, each bearing a blue “Morris Beck” rubber-stamped cachet and postmarked on September 15, 1966. The upper cover is hand-signed by Charles Conrad and Richard Gordon, while the lower cover is hand-signed by the commanding officer, Captain Stephen Thomas De La Mater, and also bears the Gemini 11 crew’s autopen signatures. The ship’s cachet appears on the reverse of the covers. |
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| A GT-11 recovery cover with a printed cachet by “Morris Beck” designated B687, postmarked on September 15, 1966, and signed by Charles Conrad and Richard Gordon. |
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| GT-11 recovery covers with a printed “Morris Beck” cachet, designated B683 and B687 were intended for the USS Guam recovery ship; however, examples of B684 and B686 with USS Guam cancellations have also been identified. |
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| A GT-11 Captain’s Cover from the USS Guam, postmarked September 15, 1966, featuring printed signatures of Richard Gordon and Charles Conrad. |
(Reference from
Gemini 11)
