Echoes Among the Stars: The Original Website
The First Era in Space, 1957-1975
Gemini 9
June 3 - June 6, 1966
Testing Suit and Systems
A technician checks Gene Cernan’s spacesuit prior to the Gemini 9 mission. The integrity of the suit and systems of the Gemini craft were severely tested during the flight, when Cernan made a difficult spacewalk that had to be abbreviated when he found it difficult to control his movements in the zero gravity vacuum of space. NASA photo.
A Gemini Tragedy
On February 28, the Gemini 9 backup crew of Tom Stafford and Gene Cernan (top) were flying alongside Gemini 9 prime crew members Elliot See and Charles Bassett (seated) in a T-38 airplane en route to the St. Louis facility of spacecraft contractor McDonnell Aircraft when the latter plane crashed, killing See and Bassett. NASA photo.
A Difficult Mission
Given the difficult circumstances by which they became the prime crew for Gemini 9 in the wake of the deaths of astronauts Bassett and See, and the failure of their docking target to deploy properly, Stafford and Cernan performed exceptionally well during the mission. Here they address a post-flight news conference. NASA photo.
