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Wally Schirra’s flown embroidered Gemini 6 insignia patch carried into low Earth orbit during the Gemini 6 mission. The patch measures 4˝ x 3.5˝ and is affixed to a signed letter of authenticity from Schirra, which reads: "The Gemini 6 crew emblem displayed below was carried into space during December 15 and 16, 1965 on the Gemini 6 mission. I was the command astronaut and ‘rookie’ Tom Stafford was ‘second astronaut.’ Tom had the most launch pad scrubs of the Gemini Program and I tied with Gene Cernan for second place. To break the tension that could build up during those delays, I was not above playing a practical joke or two that I called ‘Gotchas.’
On December 12, 1965, our Titan rocket engines roared to life and just as quickly shut down. The rule book called for me to use our ejection seat escape system, but I knew from the feel in the seat of my pants that the Titan rocket had not moved. Not ejecting was the right call and the Gemini launch team fixed the problem to enable our launch on December 15.
The six sides of the emblem are symbolic of our mission number and the star background has the constellation Orion which was used to assist navigation during our flight. This emblem became a part of history when we completed the world's first manned space flight rendezvous with Gemini 7 on December 15, 1965.” In very fine condition.
