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Detailed mission flight plan

Gemini 4 Flown "Flight Plan, Spacecraft Procedures, and Experiments" Book from the Collection of Mission Command Pilot Jim McDivitt, Signed and Certified, with His Signed Letter of Authenticity. This is how McDivitt described the item on his LOA: "This Gemini IV Flight Plan, Spacecraft Procedures, and Experiments book, Part No. CF55019, Dash 12, S/N 41, S/C 4, Book 1, consisting of thirty-four 4.75" x 8" tabbed sheets, plus front and back covers with two Velcro strips each, with handwritten notes on many pages, plus fourteen 4.5" x 8" navigational chart sections numbered 03-A/C, 05-A, 06-A, 07-A, 08-A, 09-A, 10-A, 11-A, 12-C, 13 A/14-A, 15-A, 16-A/17-A, 18-A, and 19-A, were flown in Earth orbit aboard Gemini IV, 3-7 June 1965, and are from my personal collection. I have signed and endorsed the front cover with 'Flown On Gemini IV' in green. [signed] Jim McDivitt Jim McDivitt CDR Gemini IV and Apollo 9." Approximately twenty-seven of the pages have writing on them with numerous notes ion the Flight Plan section where the entire mission was planned out for them. Turn the book upside down from the back and every other page is about the experiments they performed: MSC-1 (measuring the electrostatic charge in the spacecraft); MSC-2 (proton-electron spectrometer); MSC-3 (tri-axis magnetometer); MSC-10 (photographing the red-blue Earth limb); S-5 (synoptic terrain photography); S-6 (synoptic weather photography); M-4 (phonocardiogram); D-8 (measuring the radiation in the spacecraft environment); and D-9 Air Force (spacecraft navigation using a sextant to measure their position using the stars). Included with this lot are fifteen 8" x 4.5" navigational maps that were used during the mission. A rare opportunity to follow along this four day mission plan and read the notes made at the time by the crew. These are the first navigational charts of this type Heritage has offered. Well-used, very good.

Gemini 4 was NASA's second two-man mission and the first multi-day flight, four days and 66 orbits. The Gemini missions to follow would be longer, seeking to match the time it would take to fly to the moon and back. This was, of course, the first U.S. flight to feature a spacewalk where Ed White II performed a twenty-three minute EVA. It was also the first mission to perform many experiments. The D-9 experiment (mentioned above) investigated the use of celestial navigation that would be used in the Apollo missions.

United States Air Force Brigadier General (Retired) Jim McDivitt (1929-2022) had a distinguished career as a test pilot, USAF pilot, NASA astronaut, and NASA Apollo Spacecraft Program Manager. He joined the Air Force in 1951 and flew 145 combat missions in the Korean War. In 1959, after graduating with a BS in aeronautical engineering from the University of Michigan, he qualified as a test pilot at the Air Force Experimental Flight Test Pilot School. By September 1962 he had logged over 2500 flight hours and was chosen as a member of NASA Astronaut Group Two. He commanded both the Gemini 4 and the Apollo 9 missions. In 1972 he left NASA and retired from the Air Force. His awards include: Distinguished Flying Cross (4), Air Force Distinguished Service Medal (2), Air Medal (5), NASA Distinguished Service Medal (2), and NASA Exceptional Service Medal. He was inducted into the Aerospace Walk of Honor in 2009, the International Air & Space Hall of Fame in 2012, and enshrined into the National Aviation Hall of Fame in 2014.


Auction Info

Auction Dates
December, 2022
15th-16th Thursday-Friday
Bids + Registered Phone Bidders: 14
Lot Tracking Activity: N/A
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Sold on Dec 15, 2022 for: $50,000.00
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