Gemini 9A

Gemini IX
Gemini IX-A rendezvous with the ATDA, discovering that the docking target's payload fairing has failed to separate
Mission type
OperatorNASA
COSPAR ID1966-047A Edit this at Wikidata
SATCAT no.2191
Mission duration3 days, 20 minutes, 50 seconds
Orbits completed47
Spacecraft properties
SpacecraftGemini SC9
ManufacturerMcDonnell
Launch mass3,800 kilograms (8,300 lb)
Crew
Crew size2
Members
EVAs1
EVA duration2 hours, 7 minutes
Start of mission
Launch dateJune 3, 1966, 13:39:33 (1966-06-03UTC13:39:33Z) UTC
RocketTitan II GLV, s/n #62-12564
Launch siteCape Kennedy LC-19
End of mission
Recovered byUSS Wasp
Landing dateJune 6, 1966, 14:00:23 (1966-06-06UTC14:00:24Z) UTC
Landing site27°52′N 75°0′W / 27.867°N 75.000°W / 27.867; -75.000
Orbital parameters
Reference systemGeocentric
RegimeLow Earth orbit
Perigee altitude272 kilometers (147 nmi)
Apogee altitude274 kilometers (148 nmi)
Inclination28.8 degrees
Period89.97 minutes
EpochJune 6, 1966[1]

(L-R) Stafford, Cernan

Gemini 9A (officially Gemini IX-A)[2] was a 1966 crewed spaceflight in NASA's Gemini program. It was the seventh crewed Gemini flight, the 15th crewed American flight and the 23rd spaceflight of all time (includes X-15 flights over 100 kilometers (62 mi)). The original crew for Gemini 9, command pilot Elliot See and pilot Charles Bassett, were killed in a crash on February 28, 1966, while flying a T-38 jet trainer to the McDonnell Aircraft plant in St. Louis, Missouri to inspect their spacecraft. Their deaths promoted the backup crew, Thomas P. Stafford and Eugene Cernan, to the prime crew. The mission was renamed Gemini 9A after the original May 17 launch was scrubbed when the mission's Agena Target Vehicle was destroyed after a launch failure. The mission was flown June 3–6, 1966, after launch of the backup Augmented Target Docking Adaptor (ATDA). Stafford and Cernan rendezvoused with the ATDA, but were unable to dock with it because the nose fairing had failed to eject from the docking target due to a launch preparation error. Cernan performed a two-hour extravehicular activity, during which it was planned for him to demonstrate free flight in a self-contained rocket pack, the USAF Astronaut Maneuvering Unit. He was unable to accomplish this due to stress, fatigue, and overheating.

  1. ^ McDowell, Jonathan. "SATCAT". Jonathan's Space Pages. Retrieved March 24, 2014.
  2. ^ Hacker, Barton C.; Grimwood, James M. (September 1974). "Chapter 11 Pillars of Confidence". On the Shoulders of Titans: A History of Project Gemini. NASA History Series. Vol. SP-4203. NASA. p. 239. Archived from the original on January 13, 2010. Retrieved September 26, 2013. With Gemini IV, NASA changed to Roman numerals for Gemini mission designations.