Qualla: Gemini 11

Gemini 11: Introduction

Sat, 07 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Commissioned by NASA astronaut office, unknown manufacturer (attributed to "Fliteline"), Public domain. Pete Conrad wanted to go to the Moon in a Gemini capsule. It was not as far-fetched as it sounds. As early as 1961, NASA engineers and McDonnell Aircraft had drawn up proposals to boost Gemini spacecraft on circumlunar trajectories using Centaur rockets, and Conrad lobbied hard for his Gemini 11 mission to make the trip. NASA administrator James Webb killed the idea, telling Congress that any extra funds would be better spent on Apollo. What Conrad got instead, on September 12, 1966, was the consolation prize of a lifetime: the highest orbit any human had ever reached, a first-orbit docking that proved a technique essential for the Moon landing, and the first experiment in creating artificial gravity. Gemini 11 did more in three days than most missions accomplish in ten.

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Image: Commissioned by NASA astronaut office, unknown manufacturer (attributed to "Fliteline") | Public domain

Gemini 11: Ninety-Four Minutes to Contact

Sat, 07 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit NASA/KSC, Public domain. The mission's first objective was its most urgent. Conrad and pilot Dick Gordon had to launch from Cape Kennedy, find the Agena Target Vehicle already orbiting overhead, and dock with it on their very first orbit - a maneuver called direct-ascent rendezvous. No crew had attempted...

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Image: NASA/KSC | Public domain

Gemini 11: Eight Hundred and Fifty Miles Up

Sat, 07 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Unknown author, Public domain. With the Gemini capsule firmly docked to the Agena, Conrad fired the Agena's rocket engine and pushed both spacecraft into a wildly elliptical orbit. At its peak, the combined vehicle reached an apogee of 1,374 kilometers - roughly 850 miles above Earth. No crewed spacecraft had ...

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Image: Unknown author | Public domain

Gemini 11: Gordon's Rough Day Outside

Sat, 07 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Public domain. Dick Gordon performed two spacewalks during Gemini 11, totaling 2 hours and 41 minutes of extravehicular activity. The first, on September 13, lasted 33 minutes and was considerably harder than anyone had anticipated. Gordon's primary task was to attach a 100-foot tether between ...

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Image: Public domain

Gemini 11: Gravity on a String

Sat, 07 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Commissioned by NASA astronaut office, unknown manufacturer (attributed to "Fliteline"), Public domain. After Gordon's tether work, Conrad and Gordon attempted something no one had tried in orbit: creating artificial gravity. With the Gemini capsule connected to the Agena by Gordon's 100-foot tether, Conrad fired his thrusters to set both vehicles spinning slowly around their commo...

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Image: Commissioned by NASA astronaut office, unknown manufacturer (attributed to "Fliteline") | Public domain

Gemini 11: The Machine Lands Itself

Sat, 07 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Public domain. Gemini 11 ended with another first: the first totally automatic, computer-controlled reentry performed by a U.S. spacecraft. On September 15, 1966, the guidance computer flew the capsule down through the atmosphere and deposited it in the Atlantic Ocean just 2.8 miles from the re...

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Image: Public domain