THE LATEST U.S. SPACE SPECTACULAR - Lyle Christopherson - January 1966

Lyle Christopherson

Cape Kennedy, Florida. I was at the window on the tenth floor of the NASA news center, Cape Kennedy, Florida. The event: the lift-off of Gemini VI with its precious cargo of two human beings bent on a space rendezvous with Gemini VII, already in perfect orbital flight. Tension was running high. This was the second attempt for this history-making space shot which had previously aborted two seconds before blast-off time. The failure in the first try had been successfully traced to a $1.28 plug that had become disconnected and a small plastic cap no larger than the end of one's finger. That carelessness had produced a lot of groans of disappointment as all systems appeared GO! But this attempt was different. Now, sitting atop the giant Titan II power plant, astronauts Wally Schirra. Jr. and Thomas P. Stafford were fiercely calm as the countdown reached blast-off time minus 1 minute 30 seconds. And the countdown was on. - Information Supplied By: Herbert W Armstrong Library