Crew
Walter M. Schirra Jr., Commander
Thomas P. Stafford, Pilot

Backup Crew
Virgil I. Grissom
John W. Young

CapCom
Alan L. Bean (Cape)
Elliot M. See (Houston)
Eugene A. Cernan (Houston)
Charles A. Bassett II (Houston)

Orbit
Altitude: 311.3km (168.1 nm)
Inclination: 28.89 degrees
Orbits: 16
Duration: 1 Day, 1 hour, 51 min, 24 seconds
Distance: km

Mission Objective
Primary objective was to rendezvous with Gemini VII.
Secondary objectives included: Perform closed-loop rendezvous in fourth orbit. Stationkeep with Gemini VII. Evaluate reentry guidance capability. Conduct visibility tests for rendezvous, using Gemini VII as target. Perform 3 experiments. Spacecraft weight 3546kg.

Launch
Dec 15, 1965 8:37:26.471 am EST. Due to a Gemini Agena target vehicle (GATV) propulsion failure on 25 Oct, 1965 the mission was rescheduled. The Agena target vehicle Gemini Agena target vehicle GATV-5002 and TLV 5301 with which the Gemini-VI-A was to rendezvous and dock, failed to go into orbit. A launch attempt on Dec 12, 1965 failed because of a minor launch vehicle hardware problem.

Landing
December 16, 1965. Landing was at 23deg 35min North and 67deg 50min West. Miss distance was 12.9km (7nm). Recovered by the USS Wasp (crew onboard in 66min).

Mission Highlights
All primary objectives were achieved. Secondary objective on experiment D-8 Radiation in Spacecraft because station keeping with Gemini VII interfered with the experiment.