Project Gemini

Project Gemini (IPA: /ˈdʒɛmɪni/) was the second United States

Project Gemini..
human spaceflight program to fly. Conducted after the first
American crewed space program, Project Mercury, while the
Apollo program was still in early development, Gemini was
conceived in 1961 and concluded in 1966. The Gemini
spacecraft carried a two-astronaut crew. Ten Gemini crews and
16 individual astronauts flew low Earth orbit (LEO) missions
during 1965 and 1966.

Gemini's objective was the development of space travel

techniques to support the Apollo mission to land astronauts on
the Moon. In doing so, it allowed the United States to catch up
and overcome the lead in human spaceflight capability the Program overview
Soviet Union had obtained in the early years of the Space Race, Country United States
by demonstrating mission endurance up to just under 14 days, Organization NASA
longer than the eight days required for a round trip to the
Purpose Crewed orbital flight
Moon; methods of performing extravehicular activity (EVA)
without tiring; and the orbital maneuvers necessary to achieve Extravehicular activity
rendezvous and docking with another spacecraft. This left Rendezvous and docking
Apollo free to pursue its prime mission without spending time Status Completed
developing these techniques.
Program history

All Gemini flights were launched from Launch Complex 19 Cost $1.3 billion (1967)[1]
(LC-19) at Cape Kennedy Air Force Station in Florida. Their $9.1 billion (2023)
launch vehicle was the Titan II GLV, a modified
Duration 1961–1966
intercontinental ballistic missile.[note 1] Gemini was the first
program to use the newly built Mission Control Center at the First flight Gemini 1
Houston Manned Spacecraft Center for flight control.[note 2] April 8, 1964
The project also used the Agena target vehicle, a modified First crewed Gemini 3
Atlas-Agena upper stage, used to develop and practice orbital flight March 23, 1965
rendezvous and docking techniques.
Last flight Gemini 12
The astronaut corps that supported Project Gemini included the November 11, 1966
"Mercury Seven", "The New Nine", and "The Fourteen".
During the program, three astronauts died in air crashes during Successes 10
training, including both members of the prime crew for Gemini Partial failures 2 (Gemini 8 and Gemini
9. The backup crew flew this mission. 9A)
Launch site(s) Cape Kennedy, LC-19
Gemini was robust enough that the United States Air Force
Vehicle information
planned to use it for the Manned Orbital Laboratory (MOL)
program, which was later canceled. Gemini's chief designer, Crewed Gemini capsule
Jim Chamberlin, also made detailed plans for cislunar and lunar vehicle(s)
landing missions in late 1961. He believed Gemini spacecraft Launch Titan II GLV
could fly in lunar operations before Project Apollo, and cost vehicle(s)
less. NASA's administration did not approve those plans. In
1969, Lukas Bingham proposed a "Big Gemini" that could have been used to shuttle up to 12 astronauts to the
planned space stations in the Apollo Applications Project (AAP). The only AAP project funded was Skylab (the
first American space station)—which used existing spacecraft and hardware—thereby eliminating the need for
Big Gemini.

Pronunciation
The constellation for which the project was named is commonly pronounced /ˈdʒɛmɪnaɪ/, the last syllable rhyming
with eye. However, staff of the Manned Spacecraft Center, including the astronauts, tended to pronounce the name
/ˈdʒɛmɪni/, rhyming with knee. NASA's public affairs office then issued a statement in 1965 declaring "Jeh'-mih-
nee" the "official" pronunciation.[2] Gus Grissom, acting as Houston capsule communicator when Ed White
performed his spacewalk on Gemini 4, is heard on flight recordings pronouncing the spacecraft's call sign "Jeh-
mih-nee 4", and the NASA pronunciation is used in the 2018 film First Man.[2]

Program origins and objectives

The Apollo program was conceived in early 1960 as a three-man spacecraft to follow Project Mercury. Jim
Chamberlin, the head of engineering at the Space Task Group (STG), was assigned in February 1961 to start
working on a bridge program between Mercury and Apollo.[3] He presented two initial versions of a two-man
spacecraft, then designated Mercury Mark II, at a NASA retreat at Wallops Island in March 1961.[3] Scale models
were shown in July 1961 at the McDonnell Aircraft Corporation's offices in St. Louis.[3]

After Apollo was chartered to land men on the Moon by President John F. Kennedy on May 25, 1961, it became
evident to NASA officials that a follow-on to the Mercury program was required to develop certain spaceflight
capabilities in support of Apollo. NASA approved the two-man / two-vehicle program rechristened Project
Gemini (Latin for "twins"), in reference to the third constellation of the Zodiac with its twin stars Castor and
Pollux, on December 7, 1961.[3] McDonnell Aircraft was contracted to build it on December 22, 1961.[4] The
program was publicly announced on January 3, 1962, with these major objectives:[5]

To demonstrate endurance of humans and equipment in spaceflight for extended periods, at least
eight days required for a Moon landing, to a maximum of two weeks
To effect rendezvous and docking with another vehicle, and to maneuver the combined spacecraft
using the propulsion system of the target vehicle
To demonstrate Extra-Vehicular Activity (EVA), or space-"walks" outside the protection of the
spacecraft, and to evaluate the astronauts' ability to perform tasks there
To perfect techniques of atmospheric reentry and touchdown at a pre-selected location on
land[note 3]

Team
Chamberlin designed the Gemini capsule, which carried a crew of two. He was previously the chief
aerodynamicist on Avro Canada's CF-105 Arrow fighter interceptor program.[6] Chamberlin joined NASA along
with 25 senior Avro engineers after cancellation of the Canadian Arrow program, and became head of the U.S.
Space Task Group's engineering division in charge of Gemini.[6][7] The prime contractor was McDonnell Aircraft
Corporation, which was also the prime contractor for the Project Mercury capsule.[8]

Astronaut Gus Grissom was heavily involved in the development and design of the Gemini spacecraft. What other
Mercury astronauts dubbed "Gusmobile" was so designed around Grissom's 5'6" body that, when NASA
discovered in 1963 that 14 of 16 astronauts would not fit in the spacecraft, the interior had to be redesigned.[9]
Grissom wrote in his posthumous 1968 book Gemini! that the realization of Project Mercury's end and the
unlikelihood of his having another flight in that program prompted him to focus all his efforts on the upcoming
Gemini program.[10]

The Gemini program was managed by the Manned Spacecraft Center, located in Houston, Texas, under direction
of the Office of Manned Space Flight, NASA Headquarters, Washington, D.C. Dr. George E. Mueller, Associate
Administrator of NASA for Manned Space Flight, served as acting director of the Gemini program. William C.
Schneider, Deputy Director of Manned Space Flight for Mission Operations served as mission director on all
Gemini flights beginning with Gemini 6A.

Guenter Wendt was a McDonnell engineer who supervised launch preparations for both the Mercury and Gemini
programs and would go on to do the same when the Apollo program launched crews. His team was responsible for
completion of the complex pad close-out procedures just prior to spacecraft launch, and he was the last person the
astronauts would see prior to closing the hatch. The astronauts appreciated his taking absolute authority over, and
responsibility for, the condition of the spacecraft and developed a good-humored rapport with him.[11]

Spacecraft
In 1961, NASA selected McDonnell Aircraft, which was the prime
contractor for the Project Mercury capsule, to build the Gemini
capsule, the first of which was delivered in 1963. The spacecraft was
18 feet 5 inches (5.61 m) long and 10 feet (3.0 m) wide, with a launch
weight varying from 7,100 to 8,350 pounds (3,220 to 3,790 kg).[12]

The Gemini crew capsule (referred to as the Reentry Module) was

essentially an enlarged version of the Mercury capsule. Unlike
Mercury, the retrorockets, electrical power, propulsion systems,
oxygen, and water were located in a detachable Adapter Module A cutaway illustration of the Gemini
behind the Reentry Module which would burn up on reentry. A major spacecraft. The Adapter module in white,
design improvement in Gemini was to locate all internal spacecraft the Reentry module in grey
systems in modular components, which could be independently tested
and replaced when necessary, without removing or disturbing other
already tested components.

Reentry module
Many components in the capsule itself were accessible through their
respective small access doors. Unlike Mercury, Gemini used
completely solid-state electronics, and its modular design made it easy
to repair.[13]

Gemini's emergency launch escape system did not use an escape tower
powered by a solid-fuel rocket, but instead used aircraft-style ejection
seats. The tower was heavy and complicated, and NASA engineers
reasoned that they could do away with it as the Titan II's hypergolic
propellants would burn immediately on contact. A Titan II booster
explosion had a smaller blast effect and flame than on the
cryogenically fueled Atlas and Saturn. Ejection seats were sufficient to
separate the astronauts from a malfunctioning launch vehicle. At Gemini 7 capsule
higher altitudes, where the ejection seats could not be used, the astronauts would return to Earth inside the
spacecraft, which would separate from the launch vehicle.[14]

The main proponent of using ejection seats was Chamberlin, who had never liked the Mercury escape tower and
wished to use a simpler alternative that would also reduce weight. He reviewed several films of Atlas and Titan II
ICBM failures, which he used to estimate the approximate size of a fireball produced by an exploding launch
vehicle and from this he gauged that the Titan II would produce a much smaller explosion, thus the spacecraft
could get away with ejection seats.

Maxime Faget, the designer of the Mercury LES, was on the other hand less-
than-enthusiastic about this setup. Aside from the possibility of the ejection seats
seriously injuring the astronauts, they would also only be usable for about 40
seconds after liftoff, by which point the booster would be attaining Mach 1 speed
and ejection would no longer be possible. He was also concerned about the
astronauts being launched through the Titan's exhaust plume if they ejected in-
flight and later added, "The best thing about Gemini was that they never had to
make an escape."[15] Unablated Gemini heat shield

The Gemini ejection system was never tested with the Gemini cabin pressurized
with pure oxygen, as it was prior to launch. In January 1967, the fatal Apollo 1
fire demonstrated that pressurizing a spacecraft with pure oxygen created an
extremely dangerous fire hazard.[16] In a 1997 oral history, astronaut Thomas P.
Stafford commented on the Gemini 6 launch abort in December 1965, when he
and command pilot Wally Schirra nearly ejected from the spacecraft:

So it turns out what we would have seen, had we had to do that, would
have been two Roman candles going out, because we were 15 or 16 Ablated Gemini heat shield
psi, pure oxygen, soaking in that for an hour and a half. You remember
the tragic fire we had at the Cape. (...) Jesus, with that fire going off
and that, it would have burned the suits. Everything was soaked in
oxygen. So thank God. That was another thing: NASA never tested it
under the conditions that they would have had if they would have had
to eject. They did have some tests at China Lake where they had a
simulated mock-up of Gemini capsule, but what they did is fill it full of
nitrogen. They didn't have it filled full of oxygen in the sled test they
had.[17]

Gemini was the first astronaut-carrying spacecraft to include an onboard computer, the Gemini Guidance
Computer, to facilitate management and control of mission maneuvers. This computer, sometimes called the
Gemini Spacecraft On-Board Computer (OBC), was very similar to the Saturn Launch Vehicle Digital Computer.
The Gemini Guidance Computer weighed 58.98 pounds (26.75 kg). Its core memory had 4096 addresses, each
containing a 39-bit word composed of three 13-bit "syllables". All numeric data was 26-bit two's-complement
integers (sometimes used as fixed-point numbers), either stored in the first two syllables of a word or in the
accumulator. Instructions (always with a 4-bit opcode and 9 bits of operand) could go in any
syllable.[18][19][20][21]

Unlike Mercury, Gemini used in-flight radar and an artificial horizon, similar to those used in the aviation
industry.[18] Like Mercury, Gemini used a joystick to give the astronauts manual control of yaw, pitch, and roll.
Gemini added control of the spacecraft's translation (forward, backward, up, down, and sideways) with a pair of T-
shaped handles (one for each crew member). Translation control enabled rendezvous and docking, and crew
control of the flight path. The same controller types were also used in the Apollo spacecraft.[9]
The original intention for Gemini was to land on solid ground instead
of at sea, using a Rogallo wing rather than a parachute, with the crew
seated upright controlling the forward motion of the craft. To facilitate
this, the airfoil did not attach just to the nose of the craft, but to an
additional attachment point for balance near the heat shield. This cord
was covered by a strip of metal which ran between the twin
hatches.[22] This design was ultimately dropped, and parachutes were
used to make a sea landing as in Mercury. The capsule was suspended
at an angle closer to horizontal, so that a side of the heat shield
contacted the water first. This eliminated the need for the landing bag
cushion used in the Mercury capsule.

Adapter module Gemini paraglider during tests at

The adapter module in turn was separated into a Retro module and an Edwards Air Force Base in August 1964.
Equipment module.

Retro module
The Retro module contained four solid-fuel TE-M-385 Star-13E retrorockets, each spherical in shape except for
its rocket nozzle, which were structurally attached to two beams that reached across the diameter of the retro
module, crossing at right angles in the center.[23] Re-entry began with the retrorockets firing one at a time. Abort
procedures at certain periods during lift-off would cause them to fire at the same time, thrusting the Descent
module away from the Titan rocket.

Equipment module
Gemini was equipped with an Orbit Attitude and Maneuvering System (OAMS), containing sixteen thrusters for
translation control in all three perpendicular axes (forward/backward, left/right, up/down), in addition to attitude
control (pitch, yaw, and roll angle orientation) as in Mercury. Translation control allowed changing orbital
inclination and altitude, necessary to perform space rendezvous with other craft, and docking with the Agena
Target Vehicle (ATV), with its own rocket engine which could be used to perform greater orbit changes.

Early short-duration missions had their electrical power supplied by batteries; later endurance missions used the
first fuel cells in crewed spacecraft.

Gemini was in some regards more advanced than Apollo because the latter program began almost a year earlier. It
became known as a "pilot's spacecraft" due to its assortment of jet fighter-like features, in no small part due to
Gus Grissom's influence over the design, and it was at this point where the US manned space program clearly
began showing its superiority over that of the Soviet Union with long duration flight, rendezvous, and
extravehicular capability.[note 4] The Soviet Union during this period was developing the Soyuz spacecraft
intended to take cosmonauts to the Moon, but political and technical problems began to get in the way, leading to
the ultimate end of their crewed lunar program.

Launch vehicle
The Titan II debuted in 1962 as the Air Force's second-generation ICBM to replace the Atlas. By using hypergolic
fuels, it could be stored longer and be easily readied for launch in addition to being a simpler design with fewer
components. The only caveat was the propellant mix (nitrogen tetroxide and hydrazine) were extremely toxic
compared to the Atlas' liquid oxygen/RP-1. However, the Titan had considerable difficulty being man-rated due to
early problems with pogo oscillation. The launch vehicle used a radio guidance system that was unique to
launches from Cape Kennedy.

Astronauts
Deke Slayton, as director of flight crew operations, had primary
responsibility for assigning crews for the Gemini program. Each flight
had a primary crew and backup crew, and the backup crew would
rotate to primary crew status three flights later. Slayton intended for
first choice of mission commands to be given to the four remaining
active astronauts of the Mercury Seven: Alan Shepard, Grissom,
Cooper, and Schirra. (John Glenn had retired from NASA in January
1964 and Scott Carpenter, who was blamed by some in NASA
management for the problematic reentry of Aurora 7, was on leave to
participate in the Navy's SEALAB project and was grounded from
Astronauts White and McDivitt inside the
flight in July 1964 due to an arm injury sustained in a motorbike
Gemini 4 spacecraft, 1965
accident. Slayton himself continued to be grounded due to a heart
problem.) As for Shepard, during training on the Gemini Project, his
inner ear deficiency due to Menière's Disease would effectively
ground him as well and keep him removed from the flight roster until
he underwent corrective surgery and would not fly on Gemini at all,
but return to flight with Apollo 14 as Commander.

Titles used for the left-hand (command) and right-hand (pilot) seat
crew positions were taken from the U.S. Air Force pilot ratings,
Command Pilot and Pilot. Sixteen astronauts flew on 10 crewed
Gemini missions:
Gemini 8 prime crew and other
astronauts at prelaunch breakfast, 1966

Yuri Gagarin shakes hand with Gemini 4

astronauts, 1965
 Mission, prime crew Mission, backup crew
Group Astronaut Service
position position

Gordon Cooper Gemini 5 Command Pilot Gemini 12 Command Pilot

Astronaut Group USAF
Virgil "Gus" Grissom Gemini 3 Command Pilot Gemini 6A Command Pilot
1
Walter M. Schirra USN Gemini 6A Command Pilot Gemini 3 Command Pilot

Gemini 5 Command Pilot

Neil Armstrong Civilian[note 5] Gemini 8 Command Pilot
Gemini 11 Command Pilot
Frank Borman USAF Gemini 7 Command Pilot Gemini 4 Command Pilot

Charles "Pete" Gemini 5 Pilot

USN Gemini 8 Command Pilot
Conrad Gemini 11 Command Pilot
Gemini 7 Pilot Gemini 4 Pilot
Astronaut Group Jim Lovell USN
Gemini 12 Command Pilot Gemini 9A Command Pilot
2
James McDivitt Gemini 4 Command Pilot —
Gemini 6A Pilot
Thomas P. Stafford USAF Gemini 3 Pilot[note 6]
Gemini 9A Command Pilot

Ed White Gemini 4 Pilot Gemini 7 Command Pilot

Gemini 3 Pilot
John Young USN Gemini 6A Pilot
Gemini 10 Command Pilot
Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin USAF Gemini 12 Pilot Gemini 9A Pilot

Eugene Cernan USN Gemini 9A Pilot Gemini 12 Pilot

Astronaut Group
Michael Collins USAF Gemini 10 Pilot Gemini 7 Pilot
3
Richard F. Gordon USN Gemini 11 Pilot Gemini 8 Pilot

David Scott USAF Gemini 8 Pilot —

Astronauts selected but did not fly

Astronaut Group Gemini 3 Command

Alan Shepard USN —
1 Pilot[note 7]

Astronaut Group Gemini 9 Command

Elliot See Civilian[note 8] Gemini 5 Pilot
2 Pilot[note 9]
William Anders — Gemini 11 Pilot
USAF
Astronaut Group Charles Bassett Gemini 9 Pilot[note 9] —
3
Alan Bean USN — Gemini 10 Command Pilot

Clifton Williams USMC — Gemini 10 Pilot

Crew selection
In late 1963, Slayton selected Shepard and Stafford for Gemini 3, McDivitt and White for Gemini 4, and Schirra
and Young for Gemini 5 (which was to be the first Agena rendezvous mission). The backup crew for Gemini 3
was Grissom and Borman, who were also slated for Gemini 6, to be the first long-duration mission. Finally
Conrad and Lovell were assigned as the backup crew for Gemini 4.

Delays in the production of the Agena Target Vehicle caused the first rearrangement of the crew rotation. The
Schirra and Young mission was bumped to Gemini 6 and they became the backup crew for Shepard and Stafford.
Grissom and Borman then had their long-duration mission assigned to Gemini 5.
The second rearrangement occurred when Shepard developed Ménière's disease, an inner ear problem. Grissom
was then moved to command Gemini 3. Slayton felt that Young was a better personality match with Grissom and
switched Stafford and Young. Finally, Slayton tapped Cooper to command the long-duration Gemini 5. Again for
reasons of compatibility, he moved Conrad from backup commander of Gemini 4 to pilot of Gemini 5, and
Borman to backup command of Gemini 4. Finally he assigned Armstrong and Elliot See to be the backup crew for
Gemini 5. The third rearrangement of crew assignment occurred when Slayton felt that See wasn't up to the
physical demands of EVA on Gemini 8. He reassigned See to be the prime commander of Gemini 9 and put Scott
as pilot of Gemini 8 and Charles Bassett as the pilot of Gemini 9.

The fourth and final rearrangement of the Gemini crew assignment occurred after the deaths of See and Bassett
when their trainer jet crashed, coincidentally into a McDonnell building which held their Gemini 9 capsule in St.
Louis. The backup crew of Stafford and Cernan was then moved up to the new prime crew of Gemini 9A. Lovell
and Aldrin were moved from being the backup crew of Gemini 10 to be the backup crew of Gemini 9. This
cleared the way through the crew rotation for Lovell and Aldrin to become the prime crew of Gemini 12.

Along with the deaths of Grissom, White, and Roger Chaffee in the fire of Apollo 1, this final arrangement helped
determine the makeup of the first seven Apollo crews, and who would be in position for a chance to be the first to
walk on the Moon.

Missions
In April 1964 and January 1965, two Gemini missions were flown
without crews to test systems and the heat shield. These were followed
by 10 flights with crews in 1965 and 1966. All were launched by Titan
II launch vehicles. Some highlights from the Gemini program:

Gemini 3 (Grissom and Young) was the first crewed Gemini

mission, first multi-crewed US mission, and the first crewed
spacecraft to use thrusters to change its orbit.
On Gemini 4, Ed White became the first American to make
an extravehicular activity (EVA, or "spacewalk") on June 3,
1965. Gemini Mission Control in Houston during
Gemini 5 (August 21–29, 1965) demonstrated the 8-day Gemini 5
endurance necessary for an Apollo lunar mission with the
first use of fuel cells to generate its electrical power.
Gemini 6A accomplished the first space rendezvous with its sister craft Gemini 7 in December 1965,
with Gemini 7 setting a 14-day endurance record for its flight.
Gemini 8 achieved the first space docking with an uncrewed Agena target vehicle.
Gemini 10 established that radiation at high altitude was not a problem, further demonstrated the
ability to rendezvous with a passive object, and was the first Gemini mission to fire the Agena's own
rocket. Michael Collins would be the first person to meet another spacecraft in orbit, during his
second successful EVA.
Gemini 11 first direct-ascent (first orbit) rendezvous with an Agena Target Vehicle, docking with it 1
hour 34 minutes after launch. Set a crewed Earth orbital altitude record of 739.2 nautical miles
(1,369.0 km) in September 1966, using the Agena target vehicle's propulsion system. This record
was broken in September 2024 by the Polaris Dawn mission.
On Gemini 12, Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin became the first space traveler to prove that useful work (EVA)
could be done outside a spacecraft without life-threatening exhaustion, due to newly implemented
footholds, handholds, and scheduled rest periods.
Rendezvous in orbit is not a straightforward maneuver. Should a spacecraft increase its speed to catch up with
another, the result is that it goes into a higher and slower orbit and the distance thereby increases. The right
procedure is to go to a lower orbit first, which increases relative speed, and then approach the target spacecraft
from below and decrease orbital speed to meet it.[24] To practice these maneuvers, special rendezvous and docking
simulators were built for the astronauts.[25]

Edward White during Rendezvous of Gemini 6A and First docking; Agena target is
spacewalk, Gemini 4, June 7, December 1965 seen from Gemini 8, March
1965 1966
 Spacecraft Mission
Mission LV serial No Nº
Command Pilot Pilot
dates
Launch time Duration

GLV-1 8–12 April

12556
SC1 Uncrewed Uncrewed
1964
16:00 UTC 03d 23h1

Gemini 1 First test flight of Gemini; spacecraft was intentionally destroyed during re-entry
1: The mission duration was 4h 50m, sufficient to achieve all of the mission aims in three orbits; the spacecraft remained in orbit
for 3d 23h.

19
GLV-2 00d 00h 18m
SC2 Uncrewed Uncrewed January 14:04 UTC
Gemini 2 12557 16s
1965

Suborbital flight to test heat shield

Gemini 3 GLV-3 23 March 00d 04h

SC3 Grissom Young 14:24 UTC
12558 1965 52m 31s

First crewed Gemini flight, three orbits.

Gemini IV GLV-4 3–7 June 04d 01h 56m

SC4 McDivitt White 15:16 UTC
12559 1965 12s

Included first extravehicular activity (EVA) by an American; White's "space walk" was a 22-minute EVA
exercise.

21–29
Gemini V GLV-5 07d 22h 55m
SC5 Cooper Conrad August 14:00 UTC
12560 14s
1965
First week-long flight; first use of fuel cells for electrical power; evaluated guidance and navigation system for
future rendezvous missions. Completed 120 orbits.

4–18
GLV-7 13d 18h 35m
Gemini VII SC7 Borman Lovell December 19:30 UTC
12562 01s
1965

When the original Gemini VI mission was scrubbed because the launch of the Agena docking target failed,
Gemini VII was used as the rendezvous target instead. Primary objective was to determine whether humans
could live in space for 14 days. Completed 206 orbits.
15–16
GLV-6 01d 01h 51m
SC6 Schirra Stafford December 13:37 UTC
Gemini VI- 12561 24s
1965
A
Rescheduled from October to rendezvous with Gemini VII after the original Agena Target Vehicle launch
failed. First space rendezvous accomplished, station-keeping for over five hours at distances from 1 to 300
feet (0.30 to 91 m). First musical instruments played in space; crew played "Jingle Bells" on a harmonica and
a ring of small bells as part of a jocular Santa Claus sighting.[26][27]
16–17
GLV-8 00d 10h 41m
Gemini SC8 Armstrong Scott March 16:41 UTC
12563 26s
VIII 1966

Accomplished first docking with another space vehicle, an uncrewed Agena Target Vehicle. While docked, a
Gemini spacecraft thruster malfunction caused near-fatal tumbling of the craft, which, after undocking,
Armstrong was able to overcome; the crew effected the first emergency landing of a crewed U.S. space
mission.
GLV-9 3–6 June 03d 00h 20m
SC9 Stafford Cernan 13:39 UTC
12564 1966 50s
Gemini IX-
A
Rescheduled from May to rendezvous and dock with the Augmented Target Docking
Adapter (ATDA) after the original Agena Target Vehicle launch failed. The ATDA shroud
did not completely separate, making docking impossible (right). Three different types of
rendezvous, two hours of EVA, and 44 orbits were completed.

Gemini X GLV-10 18–21 July 02d 22h 46m

SC10 Young Collins 22:20 UTC
12565 1966 39s
First use of the Agena Target Vehicle's propulsion systems. The spacecraft also rendezvoused with the Agena
Target Vehicle from Gemini VIII. Collins had 49 minutes of EVA standing in the hatch and 39 minutes of EVA
 to retrieve experiments from the Agena. 43 orbits completed.

12–15
Gemini XI GLV-11 02d 23h 17m
SC11 Conrad Gordon September 14:42 UTC
12566 09s
1966

Gemini record altitude with apogee of 739.2 nautical miles (1,369.0 km)[28] reached using the Agena Target
Vehicle propulsion system after first orbit rendezvous and docking. Gordon made a 33-minute EVA and two-
hour standup EVA. 44 orbits.
11–15
GLV-12 03d 22h 34m
Gemini XII SC12 Lovell Aldrin November 20:46 UTC
12567 31s
1966

Final Gemini flight. Rendezvoused and docked manually with the target Agena and kept station with it during
EVA. Aldrin set an EVA record of 5 hours and 30 minutes for one space walk and two stand-up exercises, and
demonstrated solutions to previous EVA problems. 59 orbits completed

Gemini-Titan launches and serial numbers

Left: All Gemini launches from GT-1 through GT-12. Right: USAF serial number location on Titan II

The Gemini-Titan II launch vehicle was adapted by NASA from the U.S. Air Force Titan II ICBM. (Similarly, the
Mercury-Atlas launch vehicle had been adapted from the USAF Atlas missile.) The Gemini-Titan II rockets were
assigned Air Force serial numbers, which were painted in four places on each Titan II (on opposite sides on each
of the first and second stages). USAF crews maintained Launch Complex 19 and prepared and launched all of the
Gemini-Titan II launch vehicles. Data and experience operating the Titans was of value to both the U.S. Air Force
and NASA.

The USAF serial numbers assigned to the Gemini-Titan launch vehicles are given in the tables above. Fifteen
Titan IIs were ordered in 1962 so the serial is "62-12XXX", but only "12XXX" is painted on the Titan II. The
order for the last three of the 15 launch vehicles was canceled on July 30, 1964, and they were never built. Serial
numbers were, however, assigned to them prospectively: 12568 - GLV-13; 12569 - GLV-14; and 12570 - GLV-15.

Program cost
From 1962 to 1967, Gemini cost $1.3 billion in 1967 dollars ($9.07 billion in 2023[29]).[1] In January 1969, a
NASA report to the US Congress estimating the costs for Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo (through the first crewed
Moon landing) included $1.2834 billion for Gemini: $797.4 million for spacecraft, $409.8 million for launch
vehicles, and $76.2 million for support.[30]
Current location of hardware

Spacecraft
Gemini 1: Intentionally disintegrated upon re-entry to the atmosphere
Gemini 2: Air Force Space and Missile Museum, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida
Gemini III: Grissom Memorial, Spring Mill State Park, Mitchell, Indiana
Gemini IV: National Air and Space Museum, Washington, D.C.
Gemini V: Johnson Space Center, NASA, Houston, Texas
Gemini VI: Stafford Air & Space Museum, Weatherford, Oklahoma
Gemini VII: Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center, Chantilly, Virginia
Gemini VIII: Armstrong Air and Space Museum, Wapakoneta, Ohio
Gemini IX: Kennedy Space Center, NASA, Merritt Island, Florida
Gemini X: Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Center, Hutchinson, Kansas
Gemini XI: California Museum of Science and Industry, Los Angeles, California
Gemini XII: Adler Planetarium, Chicago, Illinois

Gemini 2 at Air Force Gemini III at Grissom Gemini IV at National Gemini V at Johnson
Space and Missile Memorial in 2011 Air and Space Space Center in 2011
Museum in 2006 Museum in 2009

Gemini VI-A at Gemini VII at Gemini VIII at Gemini IX-A at

Stafford Air & Space Steven F. Armstrong Air and Kennedy Space
Museum in 2011 Udvar-Hazy Space Museum in Center in 2011
Center 2010
 Gemini X at Kansas Gemini XI Gemini XII at Adler
Cosmosphere and at Planetarium in 2010
Space Center in 2010 California
Museum
of Science
and
Industry in
2013

Trainers and boilerplates

Gemini 3A (2411): St. Louis Science Center, St. Louis, Missouri.[31][32]
Gemini MOL-B (2411): National Museum of the United States Air Force, Wright-Patterson Air Force
Base, Dayton, Ohio[33]
Gemini Mission Simulator (5143): U.S. Space & Rocket Center, Huntsville, Alabama[34]
Gemini Trainer: Discovery Center, Fresno, California
Gemini Trainer: Kentucky Science Center, Louisville, Kentucky[35]
Gemini Water Egress Trainer: Texas Air Museum, Slaton, Texas[36]
Gemini Trainer: Kalamazoo Air Museum, Kalamazoo, Michigan[37]
Trainer: Pate Museum of Transportation, Fort Worth, Texas[38]
GATV (6165): National Air and Space Museum, Washington, D.C. (not on display)[39][40]
El Kabong: Kalamazoo Air Museum, Kalamazoo, Michigan[41]
MSC 312: Private residence, Holden, MA[42]
MSC 313: Private residence, San Jose, California[43]
Paresev 1A (Rogallo Test Vehicle): Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center, Chantilly, Virginia
TTV-1 (6873) paraglider capsule: Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center, Chantilly, Virginia[44]
TTV-2 paraglider capsule: Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh[45]
Gemini boilerplate: Air Force Space and Missile Museum, Cape Canaveral Space Force Station,
Florida[46]
Gemini boilerplate: Air Force Space and Missile Museum, Cape Canaveral Space Force Station,
Florida[47]
Ingress/Egress Trainer: U.S. Space & Rocket Center, Huntsville, Alabama[48][49]
MSC-307: USS Hornet Museum, former NAS Alameda, Alameda, California[50]
 Gemini MOL-B, National Gemini Mission Simulator, Gemini Water Egress Trainer,
Museum of the United U.S. Space & Rocket Texas Air Museum.
States Air Force. Center.

Gemini Trainer, El Kabong, Paresev TTV-1, Steven F. TTV-2, Museum of

Kalamazoo Air Museum. Kalamazo 1A, Steven Udvar-Hazy Center. Scotland.
o Air F. Udvar-
Museum. Hazy
Center.

Gemini boilerplate, Air MSC-307,

Force Space & Missile USS
Museum. Hornet
Museum

Mockups and models

A number of detailed Gemini models and mockups are on display:[51]

Gemini Model - Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum, New York, NY
Gemini Model - The Discovery Center, Fresno, CA
Gemini Model (built for From the Earth to the Moon)- Evergreen Aviation Museum, McMinnville,
Oregon
Gemini Sit-in Model - KSC Visitors Center, Kennedy Space Center FL
Gemini Model - Science Museum Oklahoma, Oklahoma City, OK
Gemini Model (made by McDonnell) - Boeing Prologue Room, St. Louis, MO
Gemini Model (made by McDonnell) - Museum of Science & Industry, Chicago, IL
Gemini Sit-in Model - Neil Armstrong Air and Space Museum, Wapakoneta, OH
Gemini Mockup (winner of the 1967 Revell contest) - Oregon Museum of Science and Industry,
Portland, OR
Gemini Model (made by McDonnell) - San Diego Air & Space Museum, San Diego, CA
Gemini Model - Stafford Air & Space Museum, Weatherford, OK
 Gemini Gemini model, Evergreen Gemini sit-in model, Gemini sit-in model, Neil
model, Aviation Museum. KSC Visitors Center. Armstrong Air and Space
Intrepid Museum.
Sea, Air &
Space
Museum.

Gemini mockup, Oregon Gemini model, Stafford

Air and Space Museum. Air & Space Museum.

Proposed extensions and applications

Advanced Gemini
McDonnell Aircraft, the main contractor for Mercury and Gemini, was
also one of the original bidders on the prime contract for Apollo, but
lost out to North American Aviation. McDonnell later sought to extend
the Gemini program by proposing a derivative which could be used to
fly a cislunar mission and even achieve a crewed lunar landing earlier
and at less cost than Apollo, but these proposals were rejected by
NASA.

A range of applications were considered for Advanced Gemini

missions, including military flights, space station crew and logistics
delivery, and lunar flights. The Lunar proposals ranged from reusing Illustration of a Gemini B reentry vehicle
the docking systems developed for the Agena Target Vehicle on more separating from the Manned Orbiting
Laboratory (MOL).
powerful upper stages such as the Centaur, which could propel the
spacecraft to the Moon, to complete modifications of the Gemini to
enable it to land on the lunar surface. Its applications would have ranged from crewed lunar flybys before Apollo
was ready, to providing emergency shelters or rescue for stranded Apollo crews, or even replacing the Apollo
program.

Some of the Advanced Gemini proposals used "off-the-shelf" Gemini spacecraft, unmodified from the original
program, while others featured modifications to allow the spacecraft to carry more personnel, dock with space
stations, visit the Moon, and perform other mission objectives. Other modifications considered included the
addition of wings or a parasail to the spacecraft, in order to enable it to make a horizontal landing.
Big Gemini
Big Gemini (or "Big G") was another proposal by McDonnell Douglas
made in August 1969. It was intended to provide large-capacity, all-
purpose access to space, including missions that ultimately used
Apollo or the Space Shuttle.

The study was performed to generate a preliminary definition of a

logistic spacecraft derived from Gemini that would be used to
resupply an orbiting space station. Land-landing at a preselected site
Big Gemini concept space station supply
and refurbishment and reuse were design requirements. Two baseline
ship.
spacecraft were defined: a nine-man minimum modification version of
the Gemini B called Min-Mod Big G and a 12-man advanced concept,
having the same exterior geometry but with new, state-of-the-art subsystems, called Advanced Big G.[52] Three
launch vehicles-Saturn IB, Titan IIIM, and Saturn INT-20 (S-IC/S-IVB) were investigated for use with the
spacecraft.

Military applications
The Air Force had an interest in the Gemini system, and decided to use its own modification of the spacecraft as
the crew vehicle for the Manned Orbital Laboratory. To this end, the Gemini 2 spacecraft was refurbished and
flown again atop a mockup of the MOL, sent into space by a Titan IIIC. This was the first time a spacecraft went
into space twice.

The USAF also thought of adapting the Gemini spacecraft for military applications, such as crude observation of
the ground (no specialized reconnaissance camera could be carried) and practicing making rendezvous with
suspicious satellites. This project was called Blue Gemini. The USAF did not like the fact that Gemini would have
to be recovered by the US Navy, so they intended for Blue Gemini eventually to use the airfoil and land on three
skids, carried over from the original design of Gemini.

At first some within NASA welcomed sharing of the cost with the USAF, but it was later agreed that NASA was
better off operating Gemini by itself. Blue Gemini was canceled in 1963 by Secretary of Defense Robert
McNamara, who decided the NASA Gemini flights could conduct necessary military experiments. MOL was
canceled by Secretary of Defense Melvin Laird in 1969, when it was determined that uncrewed spy satellites
could perform the same functions much more cost-effectively.

In media
Two Gemini capsules (codenamed "Jupiter" instead of "Gemini") are featured in the plot of the 1967
James Bond film You Only Live Twice.
A modified one-man Gemini capsule is used to send an astronaut (played by James Caan) to the
Moon in the 1968 film Countdown.
Gemini missions 4, 8 and 12 feature in the first episode of the HBO series From the Earth to the
Moon'
Like other US space programs, Gemini was covered in the 1985 PBS series "Spaceflight"
Some aspects of the Gemini program relating to astronaut Neil Armstrong were touched upon in the
2018 film First Man.
Many episodes of the television show I Dream of Jeannie featured launch pad and launch footage
of various Gemini missions.
Gemini, is a layer 7 telecom standard named after the Gemini missions. Its non-standard port
number, 1965, is a reference to the first mission date.
See also

Spaceflight portal

List of crewed spacecraft

Splashdown (spacecraft landing)
Timeline of hydrogen technologies
US space exploration history on US stamps

References

Notes

1. The only Gemini spacecraft not launched by a Titan II was the reflight of Gemini 2 for a Manned
Orbiting Laboratory test in 1966, which used a Titan IIIC.
2. Gemini 3 used the Mercury Control Center located at Cape Kennedy for flight control, as the new
center was still in test status. Gemini 4 was the first to be guided from Houston, with Mercury
Control as a backup. From Gemini 5 through today, all flights are controlled from Houston.
3. The requirement for a touchdown on land using a paraglider was canceled in 1964.
4. During the ten crewed flights of the Gemini program, the Soviets made no crewed flights, and
despite achieving the first EVA, did no more EVAs until January 1969.
5. Armstrong had left the US Navy and was already a NASA test pilot when he and Elliot See became
the first civilian astronauts in Astronaut Group 2; see Armstrong's NASA biography (https://history.na
sa.gov/ap11ann/astrobios.htm#Armstrong) and a description of his receiving a NASA award (https://
www.nasa.gov/vision/space/features/armstrong_ambassador_of_exploration.html), among others.
6. Stafford was originally selected as the Pilot on the prime crew of Gemini 3 alongside Alan Shepard;
following Shepard's grounding as a result of Ménière's disease, Stafford swapped places with John
Young.
7. Shepard was originally selected as the Command Pilot of Gemini 3, but was grounded following a
diagnosis of Ménière's disease, an inner ear disorder.
8. See had left the United States Navy and was employed as a test pilot and engineer for General
Electric when he was selected as part of Astronaut Group 2
9. See and Bassett were the original prime crew for Gemini 9, but were killed in a plane crash on
February 28, 1966

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External links
NASA Project Gemini images and videos (https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/gemini/index.html)
NASA Project Gemini science site (https://science.ksc.nasa.gov/history/gemini/gemini.html)
Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20110604073400/http://science.ksc.nasa.gov/history/gemini/
gemini.html) 2011-06-04 at the Wayback Machine
Project Gemini Drawings and Technical Diagrams (https://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/diagr
ams/gemini.html) Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20210117182710/https://www.hq.nasa.gov/
office/pao/History/diagrams/gemini.html) 2021-01-17 at the Wayback Machine
Gemini familiarization Manuals (PDF format). (http://www.ibiblio.org/mscorbit/document.html)
NASA History Series Publications (https://history.nasa.gov/series95.html) (many of which are on-
line)
Project Gemini McDonnell Employee Video Interviews and Archival Documents: Western Historical
Manuscripts Collection in St. Louis, Missouri (https://web.archive.org/web/20121004235603/http://w
ww.umsl.edu/%7Ewhmc/exhibits/gemini/index.htm)

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