Gemini 11
One of 27 caches representing all United States Spaceflight Missions of Projects Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo. This was the 9th of 10 Gemini flights and the 15th of the 27 flights. Click here to see all 27 US Spaceflight caches.
The Gemini 11 spaceflight, officially Gemini XI, flew from September 12 to 15, 1966. Astronauts Charles "Pete" Conrad Jr. and Richard F. Gordon Jr. performed the first-ever direct-ascent (first orbit) rendezvous with an Agena Target Vehicle, docking with it 1 hour 34 minutes after launch; used the Agena rocket engine to achieve a world-record high-apogee Earth orbit; and created a small amount of artificial gravity by spinning the two spacecraft connected by a tether. Gordon also performed two extra-vehicular activities for a total of 2 hours 41 minutes.
Gemini 11 Patch and Gordon & Conrad
WHY HERE?
The center point of all the US Spaceflight caches is located in the middle of the intersection where John Glenn Drive changes into Galaxy Way in Concord, CA.
Or as we geocachers would specify it: N 37° 58.700 W 122° 03.259
The distance ranges from this point to the various caches representing the spaceflights are:
- about ¼ mile - Mercury sub-orbital missions
- about 2 miles - Mercury orbital missions
- about 5 miles - Gemini missions
- about 5 miles - Apollo Earth orbital missions
- about 25 miles - Apollo moon missions
FLIGHT SUMMARY:
| Command Pilot:_ |
_Charles "Pete" Conrad Jr. |
| Pilot:_ |
_Richard F. Gordon Jr. |
| Launch Vehicle:_ |
_Titan II GLV |
| Height:_ |
_109 feet |
| Stages:_ |
_2 |
| Stage 1 Diameter:_ |
_10.0 feet |
| Stage 1 Thrust:_ |
_430,000 lbf |
| Stage 2 Diameter:_ |
_10.0 feet |
| Stage 2 Thrust:_ |
_100,000 lbf |
| Launch Date & Time:_ |
_September 12, 1966, 14:42:26 UTC |
| Landing Date & Time:_ |
_September 15, 1966, 13:59:35 UTC |
| Duration:_ |
_2 days 23 hours 17 minutes 9 seconds |
FTF Prize:
This is 1 of 27 caches in KCSearcher's US Spaceflight series that were given away as FTF prizes at his “Man on the Moon, July 20, 1969 - 50 years later” event. For those attendees that received this as a prize, they had an 88 hour head start on those that didn’t attend the event. The prize winners were instructed to sign the log in the “Pre-Publication FTFer(s)” space.
However, for the FTF Hounds that were not able to attend, they too had the opportunity to be FTF on this cache after publication that was targeted for 7/24/2019 @ or around 9:50 AM Pacific Time (splashdown of Apollo 11 + 50 years). All they had to do is find the cache and be first to sign in the “Post-Publication FTFer(s)” space on the log.
BONUS:
Don’t forget to record and save the Code Letter and its associated Number that is on the log sheet and inside the container lid. It will be needed to find a bonus cache on the 51st anniversary of the Moon Landing, July 20, 2020.
Please DO NOT post or include an image of the Code Letter and Number in any of your online logs for this cache
TO LEARN MORE:
Click here to see the Wikipedia description for Gemini 11.
Click here to see the Wikipedia description for Project Gemini.
Click here to see the Wikipedia description for the Space Race.