[GEMINI 6-A & 7] "WORLD'S FIRST MANNED SPACE FLIGHT RENDEZVOUS. VINTAGE NASA "RED NUMBER" PHOTO, 15 DECEMBER 1965.

The Vintage NASA Photo Collection of Philip Kulpa

[GEMINI 6-A & 7]

"BEAT ARMY" — WORLD'S FIRST MANNED SPACE RENDEZVOUS. 15 DECEMBER 1965.

Vintage NASA “Red Number” chromogenic color photograph, 10 by 8 inches, “A Kodak Paper” watermark to verso. NASA image ID “NASA S-65-64040” printed in margin in red.

A HISTORIC MILESTONE IN THE SPACE PROGRAM, MANKIND'S FIRST SPACE RENDEZVOUS, accomplished by Walter Schirra and Thomas Stafford in the Gemini 6-A, and Frank Borman and James Lovell in the Gemini 7. Gemini V7 had been launched eleven days before Gemini 6-A, on 4 December 1965. Once Gemini 6-A achieved orbit, the spacecraft caught up to Gemini 7 and the two ships manoeuvred to within a few feet of each other during three Earth orbits. Gemini 6-A was originally planned to dock with the uncrewed Gemini-Agena target vehicle, however that vehicle failed on launch, and rather than scrapping the mission, the decision was made to rendezvous with the upcoming Gemini 7 instead. 

The "Beat Army" sign visible in the window of the Gemini 6-A was placed there by crewmembers Wally Schirra and Tom Stafford, both graduates of the US Naval Academy, in reference to the traditional annual Army-Navy football game (which had finished in a tie just a couple of weeks prior. Frank Borman, Command Pilot of the Gemini 7, graduated from the US Military Academy.