Gemini 7

On 4 December 1965 NASA launched the Gemini 7 spacecraft, on a Titan II booster, putting Frank Borman and James A Lovell Jr into Earth orbit. Before men could journey to the Moon, new hardware and many new procedures had to be developed and tested. The Gemini VII mission was an important milestone along the path to Apollo. Astronauts Frank Borman, command pilot, and James LovelI, pilot, aboard Gemini VII set a record for space mission duration -- over 330 hours (14 days) initiating the era in which space missions were to be measured in days instead of mere hours. Gemini VII, in concert with Gemini VI, also performed the first-ever orbital rendezvous and station keeping. Another 'first' associated with the mission was the rapid turn-around of a launch facility. The Gemini VI mission (delayed from its original 25 October launch date) was launched from the same pad as Gemini VII, only days later, rather than after the normal two-month turn-around time. Both Borman and LovelI both went on to fly Apollo missions, Borman commanding the first manned space flight to orbit the moon. During this 14 day period, the Gemini 7 mission achieved some remarkable 'firsts' -- manned 'station keeping' (formation flying) and 'proximity operations' (relative manoeuvring in orbit) with the Gemini 6 spacecraft, and performed more than 20 scientific experiments. This report includes some of the rare official documentation of this historic voyage which has been collected and made commercially available for the first time. Includes a CD-ROM featuring: MPG video, Proud Conquest Part II; 16mm In-flight footage; High resolution Earth photographs taken from Gemini VII.