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[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

Adler to receive the Gemini 12 Capsule soon

Preparations are being made to ready the Gemini Xll space craft for a visit to the Adler Planetarium in January 2006.

The following news story relates to the preps:

Cosmosphere prepares to restore its third Gemini capsule

In addition to traveling thousands of miles through space, three of the nine small black spacecraft in the Gemini program have traveled to Hutchinson.

This week, the Gemini XII craft arrived at the Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Center's restoration complex in the former Spaceworks building in southwest Hutchinson.

Gemini XII had been on display at the Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland, encased in a simple Plexiglas case.

Owned by the Smithsonian, it's en route to the Adler Planetarium in Chicago, after the Cosmosphere's restoration team cleans and refurbishes the craft that made its maiden - and only - voyage to space 39 years ago.

The first step will be removing the cover and taking an inventory of the spacecraft's parts and condition, said Jim Remar, vice president of museum operations for the Cosmosphere. Once that takes place, they'll be able to tell what kind of work needs to be done.

"This is pretty much the condition it was when it became the Smithsonian's property in the late 1970s," Remar said. "It really hasn't been touched since then."

Aside from some corrosion on the body and a little wear and deterioration visible on the interior, the vehicle appears to be in good shape, said Dale Capps, the Cosmosphere's exhibit and restoration manager.

Gemini XII carried astronauts Jim Lovell and Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin into Earth's orbit in November 1966 on a three-day mission that tested new and successful techniques for working in space. Aldrin and Lovell also practiced docking their craft with an Agena rocket, later used in Apollo missions to the moon.

It's the second craft that Lovell flew that the Cosmosphere has restored, Remar noted. Lovell is expected to accompany a delegation from the Chicago planetarium to Hutchinson in a few weeks to look over the vehicle and discuss how it will be displayed.

Full story here: www.hutchnews.com/news/local/stories/Gemini110305.html

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Great having Lovell's space craft here in Chicago. If you haven't seen the Grissom capsule yet at the Adler, you must!...

[OranK]

I cannot wait till the Gemini 12 capsule arrives at the planetarium.

Joe, do you know if it's just coming for a while or if it’s going stay permanently at the planetarium?

Also, the Liberty Bell 7 capsule is really cool... but alas, it leaves in January....

[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

*Oran,

Thank you for your first post and registering as a new member of the Chicago Astronomer.

I heard/read somewhere that the Gemini 12 craft would be permament at the Adler, but I will confirm this. And...I would recommend all to view the Grissom craft before it leaves. I just might document the exhibit soon...

*Oran is a fellow Telescope Operator at the Adler with us, and glad he's on board. There are quite a few of Adler folk here now, resistance is Futile... ;D

[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

Gemini XII Opened up

Memories still fresh from ’66 flight - Nearly four decades later, space capsule ‘looks pretty good’

A veteran of Gemini and Apollo space missions, former astronaut Jim Lovell (left) talked Wednesday about the Gemini 12 spacecraft he flew in 1966. The capsule is now at the Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Center in Hutchinson; Lovell discussed the capsule restoration project with Paul Knappenberger of Chicago’s Adler Planetarium.

HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Former astronaut James Lovell Jr. peered deep inside the Gemini 12 capsule that he flew in November 1966.

“All the spots on my seat are still there,” Lovell said Wednesday.

Pointing to one seat, he told onlookers that was where Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin sat. Lovell sat in the other seat.

The last time he saw the capsule was 20 years ago when it still was enclosed in a Plexiglas shell and on display at the NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland.

But that shell was partly removed recently at the Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Center, where preservation work soon will begin before it goes on display at the Adler Planetarium in Chicago. It will be on long-term loan there from the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum.

“It looks pretty good,” Lovell said as he inspected the capsule. “It smells the same.”

Lovell and officials from the Adler Planetarium were at the Cosmosphere to meet with restoration experts to go over details of the work. Lovell wanted to make sure it is brought back to its post-flight appearance.

“We don’t want it shiny,” Lovell said. “We don’t want it to look like a new nickel. It takes away from the real artifact.”

This is the third Gemini capsule the Cosmosphere’s shop has restored. The others were Gemini 6 and Gemini 10. Gemini 10 is on display at the Cosmosphere, and Gemini 12 is expected to be finished and delivered to Adler in February.

Full story here: www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/local/13297677.htm
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A great piece of manned space flight history coming to Chicago...and I'll be there!...

[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

Gemini XII To Splash Down In Chicago

CHICAGO -- It's an honored piece of the United States' history in outer space. And soon, it will be brought to Chicago. But first, the Gemini 12 spacecraft is getting some sprucing up.


NBC5's Phil Rogers traveled to Kansas with astronaut James Lovell, to take a look at how Lovell's old ship is being brought back to life.

There is one thing you know when you fly with the man who brought a crippled spacecraft back safely from the moon -- it's a safe bet you'll get where you're going in one piece, Rogers said.

They were going to see an old friend, Gemini 12, the last of the two manned Gemini missions. Lovell has arranged to bring the ship back to Chicago and the Adler Planetarium.

Rogers asked Lovell if he was anxious to see how Gemini 12 looks. "Yeah, sure," Lovell said. "I think everyone who has flown on a spacecraft has an affection for them. We like to see that they're OK and that they're treated nicely." For most of the years since its splashdown in the Atlantic in 1966, Gemini 12 has been virtually out of sight in the lobby of a NASA building in suburban Washington, D.C.

Rogers and Lovell flew to Hutchinson, Kan., the home of the Kansas Cosmosphere. More than a museum, the Cosmosphere prides itself on bringing spacecraft back to almost flyable condition.

"It has been 39 years since Lovell's voice crackled through the radios of Gemini 12, where he and Aldrin docked with another craft and helped prove that human beings could function and work in the cold vacuum of space.

Lovell brought Gemini 12 back home to the Earth on a cold day in November 1966. Soon, it will come home a second time to Chicago.

Full story here: www.nbc5.com/news/5484253/detail.html?z=dp&dpswid=2275204&dppid=65192

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Can't wait until it arrives and I think very highly of Captain Lovell and his eagerness to share. I am honored to have met him. Hope it won't be the last...