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Richard Gordon was picked as a NASA astronaut in the third group, in 1963. He was a test pilot at the Naval Test Pilot School at Patuxent River, MD with instructor Pete Conrad. The two later shared quarters aboard aircraft carrier USS Ranger. Gordon flight tested many combat jets, and was the first to test the F-4, which became the mainstay of the Vietnam War. A veteran of two flights, Gemini 11, commanded by buddy Pete Conrad, which had Gordon doing a spacewalk and later experimenting with orbital mechanics by way of a tethered Agena in a lower orbit. Gemini also set an altitude record of 850 miles, brushing the inner Van Allen radiation belt, with no ill effects. Gordon next went to the moon on Apollo 12, again with Pete Conrad as commander, and another buddy, rookie Alan Bean. Conrad & Bean made the second lunar landing while Gordon kept station orbiting in the Command Module above. Gordon was to walk on the moon and command Apollo 18. But while in training, the program was ended at Apollo 17. SPACEFEST 2009 AUTOGRAPH FEES (Fri-Sun)
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