After serving as gunfire support ship at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, in late January and early February 1966, "Robert L. Wilson" was assigned the abort station for the first unmanned Apollo space shot. In April and June she was rescue destroyer for , prime recovery ship for the Gemini 9 space mission. Following ASW exercises, she made her 12th deployment to the Mediterranean on 22 July 1966, returning to Norfolk 17 December. Following service as schoolship for the Fleet Sonar School in January and February, "Wilson" spent the rest of 1967 operating in the Atlantic and Caribbean.