108. [Gemini XI] LAUNCH OF THE HIGHEST EARTH ORBIT MISSION OF THE EARLY SPACE AGE NASA, 12 September 1966 Printed 1966. Vintage chromogenic print on fibre-based Kodak paper [NASA image S-66-50735]. Numbered "NASA S-66-50735" in red in the top margin, with "A Kodak Paper" watermark on the reverse (issued by NASA Manned Spacecraft Centre, Houston, Texas). 20.3 x 25.4 cm. (8 x 10 in.) Historcial context Gemini XI launched on Sept. 12, 1966, at precisely 9:42 a.m. (EST) from Launch Complex 19 at Cape Kennedy, Florida. Liftoff occurred within a tight two-second launch window, the shortest of the Gemini Program, ensuring a successful rendezvous with the Agena Target Vehicle on the first orbit. Just one hour and 37 minutes earlier, the Agena had been boosted into orbit by an Atlas rocket from Launch Complex 14. Once docked to the Agena, astronauts Pete Conrad and Richard Gordon reached the highest Earth orbit ever flown by humans, a record that stood for almost 60 years until 2024. Gemini XI showcased the unmatched professionalism and camaraderie of Conrad and Gordon, who would fly together again three years later on Apollo 12, the second Moon landing mission. "Pete and I go way back. We worked extremely well together and developed a camaraderie that was something startling. It always allows you to think and act alike, which in certain situations, can be very comforting. It made us the best in the business." — Richard Gordon (Schick and Van Haaften, p. 45)