Launch from Cape Canaveral; landing 1330 km
southeast from Cape Canaveral in the Atlantic Ocean.
The main goal of
this flight was again to dock with an Agena target vehicle. Secondary
objectives included docking practice, an
EVA, 11
scientific experiments, docked maneuvers, a tethered vehicle test,
demonstrating automatic reentry, and parking the
GATV.
The launch was postponed twice; On September 9, 1966 due to a small leak in
the first stage oxidizer tank of the
GLV; and on the
10th due to a suspected malfunction of the autopilot on the Agena capsule.
Docking with unmanned Agena target vehicle
GATV-11 was
completed after five flight maneuvers and only 94 minutes after the launch.
There were no fuel problems and the crew began docking practice (two dockings
and re-dockings of both astronauts).
Two
EVAs by
Gordon (0h 38m) and (2h 08m). In the first
EVA he attached
the tether from the
GATV to the
spacecraft docking bar, but became fatigued too, even the
GATV was
modificated with handrails. The face plate of his helmet fogged and this
EVA was
shortened. The whole complex of two spacecrafts was then brought up to a high
apogee record of 1.360 km, using the boosters of the Agena target vehicle.
After two orbits the Agena was fired again for 22.5 seconds to lower the
Gemini-Agena back down to a 287 x 304 km orbit. The spacecrafts were then
redocked and the joined pair was brought into a rotation to build a small
gravity in the spacecrafts. The rotation rate checked out at 55 degrees per
minute, and the crew could test for a minute amount of artificial gravity, but
they did not sense any physiological effect of gravity.
All in all 12
experiments performed (9 scientific and 3 technological), but only two
photograph experiments were new. The other seven - weather, terrain, and
airglow horizon photography, radiation and zero-g effects, ion-wake
measurement, nuclear emulsion, and the ultraviolet astronomical camera - and
all three technological experiments - mass determination, night image
intensification, and power tool evaluation - had already been assigned to
previous missions. The night image intensification was enjoyed by the
astronauts, but were also a little bit handicapped due to a dirty window on
Conrads site.
At the end of the mission the first
fully automatic controlled reentry was performed. The recovery ship was the
USS Guam.
