After the tethering of the two spacecraft by Richard Gordon during the EVA, Conrad undocked Gemini from the Agena and backed slowly away, stretching the 100-foot tether taut. At first, the vehicles wobbled and the tether swung like a skip rope, as seen in the photograph. Firing a burst from his thrusters, Conrad stabilized the gently rotating spaceships, generating a mild centrifugal force that simulated a 0.00015 g of artificial gravity. The two spacecraft were tethered for about three hours until the crew fired a small pyrotechnic charge to blow off the docking bar. The tether was cut loose from Gemini 11 and wrapped around the ATV.