Day: December 4, 1965

Gemini 7 is launched with Frank Borman and Jim Lovell aboard, on a grueling two-week endurance mission which also sees the first manned space rendezvous. The 14-day flight sets a new space endurance record that stands for five years – none of the lunar landing missions will last that long – and the astronauts function well throughout the flight, though some of Gemini 7’s systems begin to fray at the edges toward the end of the mission. Eleven days into Gemini 7’s flight, Gemini 6 is launched on a one-day mission to act as the rendezvous target, and the two manned vehicles close to within mere feet of each other – a first for human spaceflight.