English: S65-61789 (12 Dec. 1965) --- Schirra and Stafford were up before dawn to prepare for their two-day flight to rendezvous with Borman and Lovell on Gemini 7. The flight’s backup crew, Gus Grissom and John Young, had already checked out and prepared spacecraft number 6 for launch by the time Schirra and Stafford were sitting down for their traditional launch day breakfast of steak and eggs with fellow astronaut, Gordon Cooper. Astronauts Walter M. Schirra Jr. (right), Gemini-6 command pilot; and Thomas P. Stafford (center), pilot, enjoy a prelaunch breakfast on the morning of the proposed launch of NASA's two-day Gemini-6 spaceflight. At left is astronaut L. Gordon Cooper Jr., command pilot of the Gemini-5 space mission. An attempt was made to launch Gemini-6 from Pad 19 at 9:54 a.m. (EST) on Dec. 12, 1965. However, seconds after ignition, the first stage engine of the Gemini-6 launch vehicle shut down due to a faulty release of a liftoff umbilical plug.