Twice the launch had been scrubbed, once on May 17 when the Agena target failed to orbit, and again earlier in the week when Gemini 9's on-board computer rejected vital data three minutes before liftoff. Now, for the third time, Astronauts Tom Stafford and Eugene Cernan wearily returned to the pad at Cape Kennedy for a mission that had the earmarks of a rueful joke.
On a placard placed over the Gemini hatches by back-up Astronauts Jim Lovell and Ed Aldrin, they read:
We were kidding before, But not any more. Get your—er—selves into...
To continue reading:
or
Log-In
