Space Mission
Gemini 6A and 7, 15 December 1965
Photographer
Thomas Stafford
Photo Description
Vintage chromogenic print on fibre-based Kodak paper, 25.3 x 20.5 cm (10 x 8 in), [NASA photo No S-65-63219], with A KODAK PAPER watermark and McDonnell Aircraft Corporation credit stamp and Id number on verso (NASA/McDonnell Aircraft)
Essay
Thomas Stafford A superb view of Gemini 7 from Gemini 6A spacecraft during the first ever rendezvous of two spacecraft in space, taken from a distance of approximately 58 feet off west coast of India at sunrise.
A historic milestone in the space programme, a rendezvous of two spacecraft in space was accomplished by Walter Schirra and Thomas Stafford in the Gemini 6A, and Frank Borman and James Lovell in the Gemini 7. Gemini 6A was originally planned to dock with the uncrewed Gemini-Agena target vehicle but as the vehicle failed to launch, NASA flight directors decided to reschedule the rendezvous with Gemini 6a and the upcoming Gemini 7. Once Gemini 6A achieved orbit, the spacecraft caught up to Gemini 7 and the two ships manoeuvred to within a few feet of each other during three Earth orbits. McDonnell Aircraft Corporation was NASA’s prime contractor for the Gemini spacecraft.