Beschreibung:

FLOWN ON GEMINI 6 – Cloth mission emblem, 1965. Carried by astronaut Stafford on the first manned rendezvous mission. The emblem design features two Gemini spacecraft in a rendezvous formation. The hexagon shape of the emblem and the stitched numeral 6 connecting the constellations Gemini and Orion both represent the Gemini flight number. This emblem is displayed on a signed provenance letter from Thomas P. STAFFORD, which reads: "The Gemini 6 crew emblem displayed below is one that I carried into space on December 15, 1965. This emblem became a part of history when the Gemini 6 spacecraft completed the world's first manned space flight rendezvous with Gemini 7 later that day. The flight technique was one of the most significant capabilities demonstrated during the Gemini Program. Spacecraft rendezvous later became the flight method to accomplish a manned lunar landing and return. Commander Wally Schirra and I completed our flight on December 16. This emblem has been in my private collection since 1965. The star constellations of Gemini and Orion as well as the star Sirius are shown on this crew 'patch' which represents the celestial background where the rendezvous occurred. We patterned our own constellation of a '6' using that background." Cloth emblem, 4 inches in diameter. [With:] Color photograph SIGNED by Tom STAFFORD and Wally SCHIRRA, 8 by 10 inches, Gemini 7 as seen from Gemini 6 during the first space rendezvous. Archivally matted to 12.5 by 19.5 inches.