{"id":633932,"date":"2024-03-19T10:26:22","date_gmt":"2024-03-19T14:26:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/?post_type=image-article&p=633932"},"modified":"2024-05-28T17:12:50","modified_gmt":"2024-05-28T21:12:50","slug":"gemini-vi-astronauts-thomas-p-stafford-and-walter-m-schirra-jr","status":"publish","type":"image-article","link":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/image-article\/gemini-vi-astronauts-thomas-p-stafford-and-walter-m-schirra-jr\/","title":{"rendered":"Gemini VI Astronauts Thomas P. Stafford and Walter M. Schirra Jr."},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"\" class=\"hds-media hds-module wp-block-image\"><div class=\"margin-left-auto margin-right-auto nasa-block-align-inline\"><div class=\"hds-media-wrapper margin-left-auto margin-right-auto\"><figure class=\"hds-media-inner hds-cover-wrapper hds-media-ratio-none \"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/s65-56151orig.jpg\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2048\" height=\"1597\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/s65-56151orig.jpg?w=2048\" class=\"attachment-2048x2048 size-2048x2048\" alt=\"Two male astronauts, Thomas P. Stafford (left) and Walter M. Schirra Jr., look directly into the camera. They are wearing white spacesuits with multiple patches including their names, mission, NASA, and the American flag. Behind them is a deep blue backdrop.\" style=\"transform: scale(1); transform-origin: 50% 50%; object-position: 50% 50%; object-fit: cover;\" block_context=\"nasa-block\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/s65-56151orig.jpg 3000w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/s65-56151orig.jpg?resize=300,234 300w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/s65-56151orig.jpg?resize=768,599 768w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/s65-56151orig.jpg?resize=1024,799 1024w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/s65-56151orig.jpg?resize=1536,1198 1536w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/s65-56151orig.jpg?resize=2048,1597 2048w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/s65-56151orig.jpg?resize=400,312 400w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/s65-56151orig.jpg?resize=600,468 600w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/s65-56151orig.jpg?resize=900,702 900w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/s65-56151orig.jpg?resize=1200,936 1200w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/s65-56151orig.jpg?resize=2000,1560 2000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px\" loading=\"eager\" \/><\/a><\/figure><figcaption class=\"hds-caption padding-y-2\"><div class=\"hds-credits\">NASA<\/div><\/figcaption><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n<p>Astronauts <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/news-release\/nasa-administrator-pays-tribute-to-space-pioneer-thomas-stafford\/\">Thomas P. Stafford<\/a> (left), and Walter M. Schirra Jr., pose for the camera during suiting up exercises on Oct. 22, 1965. Stafford was selected among the second group of astronauts in September 1962 by NASA to participate in Projects Gemini and Apollo. In December 1965, he piloted <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/mission\/gemini-vi\/\">Gemini VI<\/a>, which made the first rendezvous in space with Gemini VII, and helped develop techniques to prove the basic theory and practicality of space rendezvous.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In June 1966, Stafford commanded the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/mission\/gemini-ix\/\">Gemini IX<\/a> mission and performed a demonstration of an early rendezvous that would be used in the Apollo lunar missions, the first optical rendezvous, and a lunar orbit abort rendezvous. He was also commander of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/mission\/apollo-10\/\">Apollo 10<\/a> in May 1969; he descended to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=Rq8cyvmJMNQ\" rel=\"noopener\">nine miles above the Moon<\/a>, performing the entire lunar landing mission except the actual landing. He logged his fourth spaceflight as Apollo commander of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/missions\/apollo-soyuz\/the-apollo-soyuz-mission\/\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/missions\/apollo-soyuz\/the-apollo-soyuz-mission\/\">Apollo-Soyuz mission<\/a> in July 1975, which culminated in the historic first meeting in space between American astronauts and Soviet cosmonauts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Learn more about <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/former-astronaut-thomas-stafford\/\">Stafford and the missions<\/a> he participated in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Image Credit: NASA<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Astronauts Thomas P. Stafford (left), and Walter M. Schirra Jr., pose for the camera during suiting up exercises on Oct. 22, 1965. Stafford was selected among the second group of astronauts in September 1962 by NASA to participate in Projects Gemini and Apollo. In December 1965, he piloted Gemini VI, which made the first rendezvous […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":334,"featured_media":633931,"template":"","meta":{"nasa_hds_core_meta_l10n":"en-US","nasa_hds_core_meta_article_editor":"","nasa_hds_core_meta_article_contacts":[],"nasa_hds_core_meta_article_topic":"","nasa_hds_core_meta_linked_locations":[],"nasa_hds_core_meta_article_related_articles":[],"hds_migrate_meta_pr_release_id":"","hds_migrate_meta_pr_release_type":"","nasa_hds_core_meta_location_x":"","nasa_hds_core_meta_location_y":"","nasa_hds_core_meta_gallery_images":[]},"categories":[2932,3215,2942,3711,3690],"news-tags":[],"internal-terms":[],"coauthors":[11483],"parsely":{"version":"1.1.0","meta":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","headline":"Gemini VI Astronauts Thomas P. Stafford and Walter M. 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Stafford"],"dateCreated":"2024-03-19T14:26:22Z","datePublished":"2024-03-19T14:26:22Z","dateModified":"2024-05-28T21:12:50Z"},"rendered":"<meta name=\"parsely-title\" content=\"Gemini VI Astronauts Thomas P. Stafford and Walter M. Schirra Jr.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"parsely-link\" content=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/image-article\/gemini-vi-astronauts-thomas-p-stafford-and-walter-m-schirra-jr\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"parsely-type\" content=\"post\" \/>\n<meta name=\"parsely-image-url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/s65-56151orig.jpg?w=150&h=150&crop=1\" \/>\n<meta name=\"parsely-pub-date\" content=\"2024-03-19T14:26:22Z\" \/>\n<meta name=\"parsely-section\" content=\"Missions\" \/>\n<meta name=\"parsely-tags\" content=\"Humans in Space,Astronauts,Former Astronauts,Walter M. Schirra Jr.,Apollo 10,Gemini VI,Thomas P. Stafford\" \/>\n<meta name=\"parsely-author\" content=\"Monika Luabeya\" \/>","tracker_url":"https:\/\/cdn.parsely.com\/keys\/nasa.gov\/p.js"},"read_time":1,"featured_image":{"id":633931,"file":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/s65-56151orig.jpg","title":"Gemini VI Astronauts Thomas P. Stafford and Walter M. Schirra Jr.","alt":"Two male astronauts, Thomas P. Stafford (left) and Walter M. Schirra Jr., look directly into the camera. They are wearing white spacesuits with multiple patches including their names, mission, NASA, and the American flag. Behind them is a deep blue backdrop.","caption":"Gemini VI astronauts Thomas P. Stafford (left), pilot, and Walter M. Schirra Jr., command pilot, are shown during suiting up exercises at Cape Kennedy, Florida."},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/image-article\/633932"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/image-article"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/image-article"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/334"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/image-article\/633932\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":634027,"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/image-article\/633932\/revisions\/634027"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/633931"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=633932"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=633932"},{"taxonomy":"news-tags","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-tags?post=633932"},{"taxonomy":"internal-terms","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/internal-terms?post=633932"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=633932"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}