Charles “Pete” Conrad
Richard Gordon
crew
Stars symbolically mark the milestones of the mission: the rendezvous with Agena on the first orbit (marked with a small gold star in the artwork); the docking with Agena; the 1368 km apogee — a new altitude record; and Gordon’s spacewalk. The docking, apogee and spacewalk were also depicted pictorially. The Roman numeral XI projecting from the earth is also symbolic of the altitude record. Conrad and Gordon were both in the Navy, so the patch was executed in the Navy colors of blue and gold.
The patch was worn on the right shoulder.
[ge11-aw1]
NASA photo S66-44308
Original artwork.
[ge11-em1]
A Gemini 11 patch that, it is claimed, was flown on the
mission. The lettering, taller than that on the artwork,
matches the patch seen in the detail from NASA photo 66-H-1200
(below).
[ge11-em2]
A nicely rendered replica by Randy Hunt. This patch matches the artwork
quite closely, rather than the embroidered patch worn by the crew: the
lettering is not “condensed,” and both the Gemini/Agena and
the astronaut figure are outlined in yellow. The background is an
extremely dark blue, and could be mistaken for black except in good lighting.
72mm w × 103mm h
[ge11-em3]
This replica by Randy Wagner attempts to
duplicate the design of the flown patch. This
is most clearly evidenced in the lettering and the border. The
Agena is a bit distorted.
[ge11-em4]
AB Emblem issued this replica of the Gemini 11 patch in the summer of
2006. Like ge11-em2 it is based on the artwork for the patch,
with the Gemini/Agena — but not the astronaut — outlined in yellow.
The embroidery is beautifully precise, on an unembroidered background.
The overall shape of the patch is too broad.
85mm w × 112mm h
[ge11-em5]
The 2010 replica by AB Emblem. This patch concentrates
on reproducing the appearance of the flown patch, rather than the
artwork. The differences with the 2006 AB Emblem patch ge11-em4 are
quite stark.
78mm w × 111mm h
NASA photo S66-50725
Dick Gordon preparing for flight.
NASA photo 66-H-1200
The GTA-11 prime and backup crews in the white room with the
closeout crew. Dick Gordon is on the left, with backup crewmember
Neil Armstrong immediately to his left. Visible on the right
breast of Armstrong’s white coveralls is a “backup crew”
version of the GTA-11 patch. Thanks to Ed Hengeveld for this image.
Details from 66-H-1200. On the right is the patch on Dick Gordon’s shoulder; it can be seen here that the lettering is taller than in the artwork (i.e. it is a “condensed” font). On the right is the patch worn by Neil Armstrong; this patch carries the names of the backup crew — Amstrong and Anders.
