Painting 11 shows the two pilots in their Gemini-B spacecraft presumably en route to orbit. This is a tranquil scene amidst the drama of the preceding (and following) paintings of launch events. The pilots, appear to be monitoring their vehicle systems, ready to intervene if necessary, as the powered ascent to orbit proceeds.

There are several incongruities  in this scene. First, the man in the left seat appears to be leaning forward in his shoulder straps, despite the fact that they would be experiencing up to two and a half times Earth's gravity as second stage thrust continues to boost the spacecraft into orbit. It suggests this scene was inserted (and numbered) in the launch sequence but was intended to illustrate later in-cabin activity after reaching orbit.

NRO photograph #34 (Photo credit: McDonnell-Douglas and NRO.)

More subtly, Jacobe has depicted a breach of cockpit protocol. The co-pilot in the right seat has his hand on the cockpit's only control stick (which has an unusual shape) while the command pilot sits passively (or perhaps indignantly). However, if the Gemini-B was to be flown like the Gemini, it was the pilot in the left seat--the command pilot--who maneuvered the spacecraft. The co-pilot in the right seat appears to have gray hair (he reminds me of a maturing Cary Grant!), suggesting that he is older and thus more senior. Perhaps he is really the command pilot, and the painting was created as a mirror image. A reversed image is less disconcerting, but may not be correct.

A comparison of the few recognizable patterns in the switches in the center instrument panel with a photo of the actual Gemini-B console (at right) is not conclusive but suggests that the panel is correct in the original. It also shows how the control stick should look.

Again, the pilots are shown wearing the training version of the MH-5 suit.

This painting came with an acetate sheet, an onion skin sheet and a cover sheet. The acetate has no annotations. The onion skin sheet is annotated with "as is" in red pencil, circled, on its bottom right corner. The cover sheet bears several annotations in pencil on the bottom left: “ In [cursive] Gemini [block] ① no arm rest [block letters] ② two umbilicals [block letters] See Vern Haines” [cursive]. The umbilicals and arm rest edits were apparently completed; Mike Machat could not identify Vern Haines.

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