#gemini 12

[apollomission8]

Jim Lovell explaining why he didn't do another mission after Apollo 13

from this interview

I will never get over how cute him and Marilyn were.

She was so supportive of what he wanted to do. At the time of that press conference, he had spent more time in space than any other human. Including a two week Gemini mission while Marilyn was 8 months pregnant, being the first person to launch on a Saturn V, and the first person to go to the moon. After Apollo 13 she decided she couldn't handle anymore missions and he respected it.

Out of the first 30 astronauts, there were only 7 who stayed married, and he was one of them. When talking about their marriages and what they went through, the Apollo-era astronaut wives offen say things like "Who could ever compete with the Moon? I was lucky if I could come in second." But this is one of the only times any of them were Actually in Direct Competition with the Moon. Not only that, she put herself in that position with complete confidence he would make the right choice. And he did. He immediately changed course with his answer, he didn't even have to consider it. Marilyn was never truly in competition with the Moon, because when faced with a choice between the two, Jim never would have made a different decision.

This is one of my favorite stories about them. It really encompasses the way she supported him and the respect he had for her. It's also just so funny to think of Marilyn at the press conference seeing all of those thoughts go through his mind and just going "🤨🙄no👎"

[mdr8400]

World's first selfie in space, taken by Buzz Aldrin in 1966.

[lonestarflight]

"Excellent stereo and side view of the Agena Target Docking Vehicle as seen from the Gemini-12 spacecraft during rendezvous and docking mission in space. The two spacecraft are 50 feet apart."

Date: November 11, 1966

NASA ID: S66-62755

[nocternalrandomness]

Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin - Born January 20th 1930

This image is an official NASA portrait of Aldrin in his A7-L spacesuit, taken for the Apollo 11 mission in June 1969, shortly before the launch.

[lonestarbattleship]

"A Navy frogman leaps from a recovery helicopter into the water to assist in the Gemini-12 recovery operations. Astronauts James A. Lovell Jr., command pilot, and Edwin E. Aldrin Jr., pilot, had just completed their four-day space mission."

Date: November 15, 1966

NASA ID: S66-59987

[merv606]

[silveragelovechild]

“Lost in Space” blueprints

The saucer was originally called Gemini 12 in the original pilot. It had only one inhabitable level.

In the second pilot, the ship was rechristened the Jupiter 2, and a lower deck was established. The size of the model was not changed significantly, except to add view ports.

In the third season of the show, a third level was revealed - an engineering deck below the living quarters. Like the TARDIS, the Jupiter 2 must have been bigger on the inside because there was no way a third floor could fit.

Later fans would redesign the blueprints to try and make room for the lower decks. This usually involved significantly increasing the diameter of the saucer.

[astronotmovie]

The final Gemini mission. Astronauts James Lovell & Buzz Aldrin flew Gemini XII; the 10th & final crewed mission on Project Gemini, Nov 1966. The 3-day, 22-hour, 59-orbit mission saw Aldrin perform 3 EVAs totalling 5.5 hours. This accomplishment met a major goal for NASA by demonstrating astronauts could work outside a spacecraft for extended periods of time. It was Buzz’s rookie flight while Lovell had flown on Gemini 7. The backup crew for the mission was Gene Cernan & Gordon Cooper.