In September 1966, he piloted Gemini 11, which docked with an Agena rocket. Gordon tethered the rocket to the craft in the course of his 44-minute space walk. On the Apollo 12 mission of November 1969, the second crewed lunar landing, Gordon piloted the command module, remaining in lunar orbit. He was a US Navy pilot before being selected as an astronaut in 1963, and retired from NASA in 1972.
Gordon was NASA's chief of advanced programmes 1971–2, working on the design of the space shuttle.
Born in Seattle, Washington, Gordon was awarded a Bachelor of Science (BSc) degree by the University of Washington in 1951. He died on 6 November 2017.