Dick was a friend of mine. He was selected in NASA's 3rd group of astronauts, in 1963. He was a pilot on Gemini 11, in 1966, where he became the 4th American to walk in space. On that flight he and mission commander, Pete Conrad, also docked multiple times with 2 Agena target vehicles, and achieved the first (planned) artificial gravity in space, by connecting a tether from the Gemini spacecraft to the Agena, disconnecting the Gemini from the Agena, and then spinning up the two attached spacecraft. They also essentially doubled the altitude record to ~ 850 miles by using the rocket in one of the Agenas (it is still the highest record for a spacecraft orbiting the Earth). In November 1969 Dick flew on Apollo 12 on the second manned lunar landing. He was the Command Module pilot, the guy who orbited the Moon while the other two astronauts landed. He was the backup commander for Apollo 15 in 1971, and was the commander of Apollo 18, which unfortunately got cut due to budgetary constraints. Dick was a naval aviator and had a GREAT sense of humor. One example of this occurred on the Apollo 15 flight. As mentioned, Dick was the backup commander. The prime crew of Apollo 15 were all Air Force personnel. On the cover of the Apollo 15 Flight Plan (THE checklist for the entire mission) just under the printed words FLIGHT PLAN is a small blue and yellow sticker that says "Fly Navy" that was put there by Dick. Please post a coin that either was minted in 1929, 1966 or 1969 or one that has a nautical motif on it, in memory of Richard Gordon.
