Editing Buzz Aldrin (section)

==== Gemini 12 ====
{{Main|Gemini 12}}
[[File:S66-63536.jpg|thumb|right|Aldrin stands in space while orbiting Earth in the [[Gemini 12]] spacecraft.|alt=Astronaut performing EVA]]
Initially, Gemini 12's mission objectives were uncertain. As the last scheduled mission, it was primarily intended to complete tasks that had not been successfully or fully carried out on earlier missions.{{sfn|Hacker|Grimwood|1974|pp=370–371}} While NASA had successfully performed rendezvous during Project Gemini, the [[gravity-gradient stabilization]] test on [[Gemini 11]] was unsuccessful. NASA also had concerns about [[extravehicular activity]] (EVA). Cernan on Gemini{{nbsp}}9 and [[Richard F. Gordon Jr.|Richard Gordon]] on Gemini{{nbsp}}11 had suffered from fatigue carrying out tasks during EVA, but [[Michael Collins (astronaut)|Michael Collins]] had a successful EVA on Gemini 10, which suggested that the order in which he had performed his tasks was an important factor.{{sfn|Reichl|2016|pp=137–138}}{{sfn|Hacker|Grimwood|1974|pp=372–373}}

It therefore fell to Aldrin to complete Gemini's EVA goals. NASA formed a committee to give him a better chance of success. It dropped the test of the Air Force's astronaut maneuvering unit (AMU) that had given Gordon trouble on Gemini{{nbsp}}11 so Aldrin could focus on EVA. NASA revamped the training program, opting for underwater training over [[parabolic flight]]. Aircraft flying a parabolic trajectory had given astronauts an experience of weightlessness in training, but there was a delay between each parabola which gave astronauts several minutes of rest. It also encouraged performing tasks quickly, whereas in space they had to be done slowly and deliberately. Training in a viscous, buoyant fluid gave a better simulation. NASA also placed additional handholds on the capsule, which were increased from nine on Gemini{{nbsp}}9 to 44 on Gemini{{nbsp}}12, and created workstations where he could anchor his feet.{{sfn|Reichl|2016|pp=137–138}}{{sfn|Hacker|Grimwood|1974|pp=372–373}}

[[File:GPN-2000-001420.jpg|thumb|left|Aldrin next to the [[Agena Target Vehicle|Agena]] work station in November 1966|alt=Astronaut performing EVA]]
Gemini 12's main objectives were to rendezvous with a target vehicle, and fly the spacecraft and target vehicle together using gravity-gradient stabilization, perform docked maneuvers using the Agena propulsion system to change orbit, conduct a tethered stationkeeping exercise and three EVAs, and demonstrate an automatic reentry. Gemini{{nbsp}}12 also carried 14 scientific, medical, and technological experiments.<ref name="nssdc">{{cite web |url=https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraft/display.action?id=1966-104A |title=Gemini 12 |publisher=NASA Space Science Data Coordinated Archive |access-date=August 9, 2017 }}</ref> It was not a trailblazing mission; rendezvous from above had already been successfully performed by Gemini 9, and the tethered vehicle exercise by Gemini 11. Even gravity-gradient stabilization had been attempted by Gemini 11, albeit unsuccessfully.{{sfn|Hacker|Grimwood|1974|pp=372–373}}

Gemini{{nbsp}}12 was launched from [[Launch Complex 19]] at [[Cape Canaveral]] on 20:46 UTC<!-- Do not change dates/times for space and launch events, see FAQ --> on November 11, 1966. The [[Gemini Agena Target Vehicle]] had been launched about an hour and a half before.<ref name="nssdc" /> The mission's first major objective was to rendezvous with this target vehicle. As the target and Gemini{{nbsp}}12 capsule drew closer together, radar contact between the two deteriorated until it became unusable, forcing the crew to rendezvous manually. Aldrin used a [[sextant]] and rendezvous charts he helped create to give Lovell the right information to put the spacecraft in position to dock with the target vehicle.{{sfn|Chaikin|2007|p=140}} Gemini{{nbsp}}12 achieved the fourth [[Docking and berthing of spacecraft|docking]] with an Agena target vehicle.{{sfn|Hacker|Grimwood|1974|pp=375–376}}

The next task was to practice undocking and docking again. On undocking, one of the three latches caught, and Lovell had to use the Gemini's thrusters to free the spacecraft. Aldrin then docked again successfully a few minutes later. The flight plan then called for the Agena main engine to be fired to take the docked spacecraft into a higher orbit, but eight minutes after the Agena had been launched, it had suffered a loss of chamber pressure. The Mission and Flight Directors therefore decided not to risk the main engine. This would be the only mission objective that was not achieved.{{sfn|Hacker|Grimwood|1974|pp=375–376}} Instead, the Agena's secondary propulsion system was used to allow the spacecraft to view the [[solar eclipse of November 12, 1966]], over South America, which Lovell and Aldrin photographed through the spacecraft windows.<ref name="nssdc" />
[[File:Gemini 12 recovery.jpg|thumb|right|Aldrin and [[Jim Lovell]] arrive on the aircraft carrier {{USS|Wasp|CV-18|6}} after the Gemini{{nbsp}}12 mission.|alt=Astronauts in spacesuits exiting helicopter on aircraft carrier]]
Aldrin performed three EVAs. The first was a standup EVA on November 12, in which the spacecraft door was opened and he stood up, but did not leave the spacecraft. The standup EVA mimicked some of the actions he would do during his free-flight EVA, so he could compare the effort expended between the two. It set an EVA record of two hours and twenty minutes. The next day Aldrin performed his free-flight EVA. He climbed across the newly installed hand-holds to the Agena and installed the cable needed for the gravity-gradient stabilization experiment. Aldrin performed numerous tasks, including installing electrical connectors and testing tools that would be needed for [[Project Apollo]]. A dozen two-minute rest periods prevented him from becoming fatigued. His second EVA concluded after two hours and six minutes. A third, 55-minute standup EVA was conducted on November 14, during which Aldrin took photographs, conducted experiments, and discarded some unneeded items.<ref name="nssdc" />{{sfn|Reichl|2016|pp=141–142}}

On November 15, the crew initiated the automatic reentry system and [[splashdown|splashed down]] in the Atlantic Ocean, where they were picked up by a helicopter, which took them to the awaiting aircraft carrier {{USS|Wasp|CV-18|6}}.<ref name="nssdc" />{{sfn|Reichl|2016|p=142}} After the mission, his wife realized he had fallen into a depression, something she had not seen before.{{sfn|Chaikin|2007|p=140}}