Artifact Category: photograh, autograph.
Dimensions: 20.1 x 25.4 cm
Description: Richard Francis Gordon Jr. was an American astronaut, born on October 5, 1929, in Seattle, Washington.
In 1960, he was selected as one of the third group of astronauts by NASA.
Gordon's first spaceflight was on Gemini 11 in 1966. He served as the pilot alongside commander Charles "Pete" Conrad Jr. During the mission, Gordon and Conrad set a new altitude record of 850 miles and performed two spacewalks. They also tested a new spacecraft maneuvering system and conducted scientific experiments.
Gordon's second and final spaceflight was on Apollo 12 in 1969, the second mission to land humans on the moon. He served as the command module pilot, while Conrad and Alan Bean landed on the moon's surface. While orbiting the moon, Gordon conducted experiments and took photographs of the lunar surface.
Gordon retired from NASA in 1972, having accumulated a total of 315 hours in space. After leaving NASA, he worked in private industry and served on the board of several companies. He also served as executive vice president of the New Orleans Saints football team.
