Gemini IX
Gemini IX-A rendezvous with the ATDA, discovering that the docking target's payload fairing has failed to separate
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| Operator | NASA |
|---|---|
| COSPAR ID | 1966-047A |
| SATCAT no. | 2191 |
| Mission duration | 3 days, 20 minutes, 50 seconds |
| Orbits completed | 47 |
| Spacecraft properties | |
| Spacecraft | Gemini SC9 |
| Manufacturer | McDonnell |
| Launch mass | 3,800 kilograms (8,300 lb) |
| Crew | |
| Crew size | 2 |
| Members |
Thomas P. Stafford Eugene A. Cernan |
| EVAs | 1 |
| EVA duration | 2 hours, 7 minutes |
| Start of mission | |
| Launch date | June 3, 1966, 13:39:33 UTC |
| Rocket | Titan II GLV, s/n #62-12564 |
| Launch site | Cape Kennedy LC-19 |
| End of mission | |
| Recovered by | USS Wasp |
| Landing date | June 6, 1966, 14:00:23 UTC |
| Landing site | 27°52′N 75°0.4′W / 27.867°N 75.0067°W |
| Orbital parameters | |
| Reference system | Geocentric |
| Regime | Low Earth orbit |
| Perigee | 272 kilometers (147 nmi) |
| Apogee | 274 kilometers (148 nmi) |
| Inclination | 28.8 degrees |
| Period | 89.97 minutes |
| Epoch | June 6, 1966 |
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 (L-R) Stafford, Cernan |
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Gemini 9A (officially Gemini IX-A) was a 1966 manned spaceflight in NASA's Gemini program. It was the 7th manned Gemini flight, the 13th manned American flight and the 23rd spaceflight of all time (includes X-15 flights over 100 kilometres (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. The mission was flown June 3–6, 1966 by backup command pilot Thomas P. Stafford and pilot Eugene Cernan. The astronauts rendezvoused with the Augmented Target Docking Adaptor, but were unable to dock with it because the nose fairing failed to eject from the docking target due to a launch preparation error. Cernan performed a two-hour extravehicular activity, during which he was planned to demonstrate free flight in a self-contained rocket pack, the Astronaut Maneuvering Unit. He was unable to accomplish this due to stress, fatigue, and overheating.
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