Gemini 12 Launched With Jim Lovell and Buzz Aldrin on November 11, 1966
NASA sent Jim Lovell and Buzz Aldrin into space aboard Gemini 12 for a four-day mission that included three spacewalks.
NASA launched Gemini 12 from Kennedy Space Center on November 11, 1966, with astronauts Jim Lovell and Buzz Aldrin aboard a Titan launch vehicle.
Key details
- An uncrewed Agena target vehicle launched aboard an Atlas rocket about 90 minutes before Gemini 12.
- The Gemini 12 crew docked with the Agena target vehicle.
- Aldrin performed three spacewalks totaling more than five hours.
- The astronauts returned to Earth on November 15, 1966, after four days in space.
- The spacecraft splashed down in the Atlantic Ocean near its recovery ship, USS Wasp.
Buzz Aldrin completed three spacewalks totaling more than five hours during Gemini 12.
Why it matters
Gemini 12 tested spacewalking tools and procedures and contributed to preparations for Apollo lunar missions. Its rendezvous and docking with the Agena target vehicle also formed part of the mission's work in orbit.
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