[Gemini VIII & IX-A Rendezvous]

Originally from the personal collection of Dr. George E. Mueller (1918-2015).

TWO ALBUMS OF NASA PHOTOGRAPHS CAPTURING KEY STAGES IN GETTING HUMANITY TO THE MOON

Gemini VIII and Gemini IX-A both involved complex spacecraft logistics necessary to test before the Apollo Command and Lunar Modules could be trusted to bring crews to the lunar surface and back.

Gemini VIII, crewed by Command Pilot Neil Armstrong and Pilot David R. Scott, achieved the first docking between two vehicles in space. However, shortly afterwards, the spacecraft suffered a malfunction and began spinning so badly that Armstrong had to make an emergency landing in the Pacific Ocean.

Gemini IX-A, crewed by Command Pilot Tom Stafford and Pilot Gene Cernan, further tested spacecraft rendezvous techniques. Their original objective was to rendezvous with an Agena Target Vehicle, but the Atlas rocket launching the Agena failed to reach orbit. The Gemini IX crew's mission designation changed to Gemini IX-A with the new objective to rendezvous with the Augmented Target Docking Adapter (ATDA). However, this vehicle also experienced a mishap during launch and made it to orbit with its nosecone still attached. This meant that Stafford and Cernan could not dock with it, as the nosecone covered the docking mechanisms necessary. Stafford reported to Mission Control upon approach: "That’s a weird looking machine. Would you believe that there’s a nose cone on that rascal. The shroud is half open. It looks like an angry alligator out there rotating around.”

Several images in the present lot capture the bizarre ATDA with its nosecone attached, an "angry alligator" in Low Earth Orbit. One image is of a cartoon of the Gemini capsule approaching the bizarre craft with a speech bubble from Gene Cernan: "Hey Tom -- ask George 'What do we do now?'"

Hailed as “The Man who put Men on the Moon” and the “Father of the Manned Spacecraft Program,” Dr. George Mueller played a pivotal role at NASA from 1963-1969.Mueller was sworn in in 1963, right as the Gemini flight operations were gearing up. Regarded as a bridge between the Mercury and Apollo missions, the Gemini program featured the launch of twelve flight crews under Mueller’s tenure.