Check out: Breathtaking view of Australia from Gemini XI spacecraft, 850 miles above Earth

Photo Credit: NASA/Dick Gordon

New Delhi: The US space agency NASA has released a beautiful view of the western half of Australia from the Gemini XI spacecraft at 850 miles above the Earth on  850 miles above the Earth on September14, 1966.

According to NASA, reaching this record-shattering altitude  altitude was a highlight of a demanding and three-day mission for Gemini XI command pilot Charles "Pete" Conrad and pilot Dick Gordon.

Gemini XI spacecraft docked with its Agena target vehicle just one hour and 34 minutes after liftoff on September 12, 1966 and a first orbit rendezvous. pilot Dick Gordon attached a tether from the Agena to his Gemini spacecraft on the first of the mission's two spacewalks.

As per reports, on September 14, 1966, the Agena engine fired for 26 seconds, boosting Gemini XI to 850 miles above the Earth, breaking the 475-mile altitude record set in July 1966 by Gemini X. As Gemini XI continued on its 26th orbit, Conrad and Gordon reached the apogee over the southern hemisphere. "We're looking straight down over Australia now," Conrad said. "We have the whole southern part of the world out one window. Utterly fantastic."