Documents / Official release
This 1966 NASA file collects memoranda by Jocelyn R. Gill of the Manned Flight Experiments Office, plus related correspondence, on the scientific experiments of the Gemini IX mission. Status reports from March and June 1966 describe the zodiacal light, airglow, micrometeorite and synoptic photography experiments, and an experiments debriefing held June 16. The file also contains a congratulatory telegram to astronauts Stafford and Cernan and a Naval Research Laboratory letter on the S-9 cosmic ray experiment. It reports no unidentified objects.
From the source:Release of 2026-06-12 Incident: June 3-6, 1966, Low Earth Orbit. Gemini IX (renamed Gemini IX-A) was the seventh crewed flight of the Gemini series, launched on June 3, 1966. The mission’s primary objectives included a spacewalk and multiple scientific and medical experiments. This document, dated June 16, 1966, is a transcript of a NASA debriefing of astronauts Thomas Stafford and Eugene Cernan. Pages 2-5 of this document contain the astronauts’ accounts of their observations of “flashing lights” and “sparkles” during the mission.
OPTIONAL fOI.M NO, I 0
M.AY 1'62 fDITIOH
GSA PPMI: U.I Cfl) IOl-11.6
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Manned Flight Experiments Office
SM/Manned Flight Experiments Office
DATE: J une 6, 1966
!TED STATES GOVERNMEN
Memorandum
SM/Director,TO
FROM
Sci entific Experiments carried out oh Gemini IXSUBJECT:
~
The Gemini IX mission carried the following OSSA experiments :
S -10 Agena Micrometeorite Collection
S -11 Airglow Horizon Photography
S - 12 Gemini Micrometeorite Collection
In spi te of a slight flurry last Friday night to t brow in additional
experiments as a possible backup in the event of failure of the .ATDA,
no new experiments were introduced . Thi s was a consequence of the
decis i on to i ntroduce no additional film packs which could have
acconnnodated some moreexperimental activity. (Ref . TWX to Dr .
John Clark re S- 28 support for Gemini IX, 5/27/66 and TWX to 4
experimenters and their directors re S- 5, S - 6, S-28 and S-29, 5/31/66) .
Nonetheless , i t is anticipated that some photographs will have been
taken for S-5 and S -6 (Synoptic Photography) on the operational film
carri ed - even though this experiment was not scheduled for Gemini IX .
As of Sunday, June 5th at ll : 30 e . d . t . telephone contact with
Norman Foster ' s office indicated the following on experiments .
{Talked with Ed Zeitler, MSC both Saturday and Sunday . He i s the
editor on the experiments status report) .
The efforts to di slodge the shroud from the .ATDA, (called by
Tom Stafford as "an angry alligator, ") were in vain so docking with
the ATDA was scrubbed from the mission . At this point there was
some concern over the fuel supply and a thought that i t might not be
possible to carry out all the experiments . The status of sci entific
experimental activity is given below .
1 . S-10, Agena Micrometeorite Collecti on, Dr . C. Hemenway, Dudley
Observatory
The S- 10 was carried on the .ATDA, but it was imposs i ble to get
near i t or to retrieve i t . The S- 10 was also carri ed on the Agena
and there was no activity with it ei ther . The S -10 i s still on the
.ATDA and conceivably could be retrieved on a later mi ss i on .
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Official release, from the pursue collection. The PDF is mirrored here; the original link is above. 78 pages are in the text index: search them above, or from the library's search.