“Tom was a gentleman and a daredevil. He flew our first rendezvous in space on Gemini 6, and piloted Gemini 9’s path to Earth with pencil and paper when the spacecraft’s guidance computer failed in orbit. He commanded Apollo 10, the first flight of the lunar module to the Moon, a critical test flight that resulted in the successful landing on the Moon during the Apollo 11 mission. Tom also flew more than 100 different types of aircraft throughout his career as he pushed the edge of the envelope of our achievement in air and space. He was an extraordinary peacemaker who commanded NASA’s first rendezvous of an international spacecraft on the Apollo-Soyuz mission. His counterpart, General Alexei Leonov, became a best friend over the years. Tom gave Alexei’s eulogy in 2019 at the Russian state funeral." Source: Part of the NASA euolgy for Astronaut Tom Stafford....
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