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Author
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Topic: Original Gemini flight assignments
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Tom
Member Posts: 1610
From: New York
Registered: Nov 2000
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posted 08-16-2015 09:37 AM
   
On a recent visit to the Astronaut Hall of Fame in Titusville, I found a timeline of Gemini and Apollo flight crew assignments as they were announced and ultimately changed.While most of us here are familiar with crew assignments, I found a few of the Gemini crews listed in 1964 and early '65 (especially back-up crews) surprising: - GT-3 Grissom and Young / Schirra and Stafford
- GT-4 McDivitt and White / Borman and Lovell
- GT-5 Cooper and Conrad / Armstrong and See
- GT-6 Schirra and Stafford / Grissom and Young
- GT-7 Borman and Lovell / White and Collins
- GT-8 Armstrong and See / Conrad and Gordon
- GT-9 Young and Scott / Stafford and Freeman
- GT-10 White and Collins / Lovell and Bassett
- GT-11 Conrad and Gordon / Armstrong and Cernan
- GT-12 Stafford and Freeman / See and Aldrin
Note: Upon Freeman's death, backup pilots moved up one mission, which I guess proves that assignments were not based on "personality traits". (ie: Bassett moved to GT-9 BU pilot with Stafford...Cernan was reassigned with Lovell...Aldrin with Armstrong, and CC Willaims was assigned with See as the BU for "12"). |
LM-12
Member Posts: 3324
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Oct 2010
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posted 08-16-2015 09:53 AM
A flight-by-flight listing of all the crews that were considered would be interesting. |
Tom
Member Posts: 1610
From: New York
Registered: Nov 2000
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posted 08-16-2015 10:22 AM
The only other crews worth noting were the first two Apollo prime and backup crews: - Apollo 1:
Grissom, White and Eisele
McDivitt, Scott and Schweickart - Apollo 2:
Schirra, Chaffee and Cunningham
Borman, Bassett and Anders
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Captain Meerkat
New Member Posts: 1
From:
Registered: Jul 2015
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posted 08-16-2015 03:15 PM
All that makes sense - except maybe splitting Armstrong and See for for GT-11 and GT-12 BU, but I guess Deke did not want to train someone new for a dead-end BU CDR role. If we apply the events that happened afterwards (and reading in between the lines in Dekes book) I think we get to the actual final Gemini assignments: - Freeman's death. BU PLT's move up a position
GT-8: Armstrong and See / Conrad and Gordon
GT-9: Young and Scott / Stafford and Bassett
GT-10: White and Collins / Lovell and Cernan
GT-11: Conrad and Gordon / Armstrong and Aldrin
GT-12: Stafford and Bassett / See and Bean - See dropped in favor of Scott (direct switch to give See more time for prepare for an EVA?)
GT-8: Armstrong and Scott / Conrad and Gordon
GT-9: Young and See / Stafford and Bassett
GT-10: White and Collins / Lovell and Cernan
GT-11: Conrad and Gordon / Armstrong and Aldrin
GT-12: Stafford and Bassett / See and Bean - White moved to Apollo. See takes GT-10 CDR (at this point Deke might have thought See a candidate for an EVA), Bassett to GT-9 PLT and remaining BU PLT's move up a position
GT-8: Armstrong and Scott / Conrad and Gordon
GT-9: Young and Bassett / Stafford and Cernan
GT-10: See and Collins / Lovell and Aldrin
GT-11: Conrad and Gordon / Armstrong and Bean
GT-12: Stafford and Cernan / Young? and Williams I have put Young as GT-12 BU CDR as he wasnt assigned to an Apollo mission at the time whilst Bassett was. - GT-6 delayed. Young and See switched. I guess Deke didnt want Young to take GT-9 CDR with 2 months less prep.
GT-8: Armstrong and Scott / Conrad and Gordon
GT-9: See and Bassett / Stafford and Cernan
GT-10: Young and Collins / Lovell and Aldrin
GT-11: Conrad and Gordon / Armstrong and Bean
GT-12: Stafford and Cernan / See and Williams - Death of See and Bassett. GT-9 BU to Prime, GT-10 BU to GT-9 BU, Bean and Williams to GT-10 BU.
GT-8: Armstrong and Scott / Conrad and Gordon
GT-9: Stafford and Cernan / Lovell and Aldrin
GT-10: Young and Collins / Bean and Williams
GT-11: Conrad and Gordon / Armstrong and Anders
GT-12: Lovell and Aldrin / Cooper and Cernan Anders and Cooper drafted in to fill dead-end BU roles.
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Lou Chinal
Member Posts: 1332
From: Staten Island, NY
Registered: Jun 2007
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posted 08-16-2015 05:41 PM
I thought Shepard/Stafford were original crew for Gemini 3? |
Tom
Member Posts: 1610
From: New York
Registered: Nov 2000
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posted 08-16-2015 05:45 PM
They were, but I believe by 1964 (when this timeline began) Grissom and Young had already replaced them. |
Robert Pearlman
Editor Posts: 43576
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 08-16-2015 05:49 PM
I believe Shepard and Stafford were replaced by Grissom and Young in April 1964 (based on recent research done in support of the Astronaut Wives' reviews). |
LM-12
Member Posts: 3324
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Oct 2010
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posted 08-18-2015 02:36 PM
Chapter 14 in Deke! indicates that the Gemini 3 crew selection developed like this: - Shepard-Stafford / Grissom-Borman
- Shepard-Stafford / Schirra-Young
- Grissom-Young / Schirra-Stafford
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Headshot
Member Posts: 891
From: Vancouver, WA, USA
Registered: Feb 2012
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posted 08-18-2015 03:56 PM
Did Shepard and Stafford ever actually train together? Was a crew portrait taken of them? |
LM-12
Member Posts: 3324
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Oct 2010
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posted 08-18-2015 05:08 PM
Photo of the Week 33 shows Shepard and Borman in the Gemini simulator in 1964.
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Skylon
Member Posts: 277
From:
Registered: Sep 2010
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posted 08-19-2015 08:10 AM
Shepard and Stafford's assignment lasted very briefly. An important thing to remember is that those first Gemini flight assignments were only announced internally, within NASA. Slayton describes that he had announced the initial Gemini lineup to the Astronaut Office then needing to make changes within "a few weeks". So, in short - so its unlikely they got into any real "nitty-gritty" training.
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robsouth
Member Posts: 769
From: West Midlands, UK
Registered: Jun 2005
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posted 08-20-2015 05:24 AM
quote:
Originally posted by Captain Meerkat:
If we apply the events that happened afterwards (and reading in between the lines in Deke's book) I think we get to the actual final Gemini assignments...
Are these all actual crew assignments or have you made them up? |
robertsconley
Member Posts: 59
From: Meadville, PA
Registered: Jun 2005
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posted 10-02-2015 08:56 AM
According to Deke Slayton in his autobiography, his initial assignments were: - GT-3 Shepard/Stafford Back:
- GT-4 McDivitt/White Back: Conrad/Lovell
- GT-5 Schirra/Young
- GT-6 Grissom/Borman
The Agena got delayed so it got shuffled to: - GT-3 Shepard/Stafford Back: Schirra/Young
- GT-4 McDivitt/White Back: Conrad/Lovell
- GT-5 Grissom/Borman
- GT-6 Schirra/Young
Then Shepard's Meniere's Disease developed causing him to be dropped from the rotation. This caused the flight arrangements as follows.Grissom to command GT-3 Young was swapped for Stafford as Slayton felt that Young was a better match for Grissom than Stafford. Cooper was assigned to command GT-5. Again for compatibility Slayton swapped out Borman for Conrad. Finally assigned Armstrong/See to back up GT-5. - GT-3 Grissom/Young Back: Schirra/Stafford
- GT-4 McDivitt/White Back: Borman/Lovell
- GT-5 Cooper/Conrad Back:Armstrong/See
- GT-6 Schirra/Stafford
Later he felt See not up to the physical demands of EVA and split up Armstrong/See to separate flights. - GT-6 Schirra/Stafford Back:Grissom/Young
- GT-7 Borman/Lovell Back:White/Collins
- GT-8 Armstrong/Scott Back:Conrad/Gordon
- GT-9 See/Bassett Back: Stafford/Cernan
Finally after the tragic crash we got the arrangement for GT-9, GT-10, GT-11, and GT-12. |
carmelo
Member Posts: 1051
From: Messina, Sicilia, Italia
Registered: Jun 2004
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posted 10-03-2015 10:03 AM
Young would have flown twice in 1965 as pilot (GT-3 and GT-6)? |
Tom
Member Posts: 1610
From: New York
Registered: Nov 2000
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posted 10-03-2015 12:34 PM
No...having flown GT-3, he would have been back-up on GT-6, not prime.
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robertsconley
Member Posts: 59
From: Meadville, PA
Registered: Jun 2005
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posted 10-06-2015 10:00 AM
Fixed it. |
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