Project Gemini
Since there would have been a large gap between the end of Project Mercury and the Apollo flights, NASA opted to develop Project Gemini, which would give the US much needed experience in space. The beginnings of Gemini go back to February of 1961. On 7 December 1961, it was introduced as Mercury Mark II, and renamed Project Gemini on 3 January 1962. In Latin, "gemini" means "twins" or "side by side". As with Mercury, the craft was developed and built by McDonnell. The Titan II ICBM (Martin Marietta) was selected as the launch vehicle.
Project Gemini Objectives:
- To subject men and equipment to long duration space flight
(to the moon).
- To gain information on the physical and psychological
effects of long duration weightlessness.
- To develop rendezvous and docking procedures.
- To perfect methods of reentry and landing.
Project Gemini cost about USD 1.28 billion in 1966 (over USD 7 billion in 2010).
Unmanned missions
Launch:
Location: Cape Kennedy Air Force Station
Pad: LC-19
Date: 8 April 1964
Time: 16:01":01.99p>
Flight:
Mission Duration: 4 hours, 40 minutes
Mission Orbits: 3
Flight Duration: 4 days
The craft disintegrated during an uncontrolled reentry at about 15:00:00 UTC on 12 April 1964.
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Launch:
Location: Cape Kennedy Air Force Station
Pad: LC-19
Date: 19 January 1965
Time: 14:03:59.861 UTC
Flight:
Duration: 18 minutes, 16 seconds
Orbits: sub-orbital
Landing:
Date: 19 January 1965
Time: 14:22:14 UTC
Recovery:
Location: Atlantic Ocean (16° 36' N, 49° 46' W))
Vessel: USS Lake Champlain
The capsule was refurbished and the heat shield modified with a hatch as a Gemini B mock-up test for the USAF MOL program.
Launch:
Location: Cape Kennedy Air Force Station
Pad: LC-40 (by a Titan IIIC)
Date: 3 November 1966
Time: 13:50:42 UTC
Flight:
Duration: 33 minutes
Orbits: sub-orbital
Gemini II can be found at the Air Force Space and Missile Museum, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, FL.
Gemini B
The Gemini capsule was redesigned for use with the Manned Orbiting Laboratory. This craft was designed to be shut down for orbital storage, had the seats relocated to allow access to a hatch cut into the heat shield (to allow entry into the MOL), and had a larger heat shield to handle high energy re-entry from polar orbit. Changes were also made in instrumentation, number and location of thrusters, and the atmosphere (Helium/Oxygen mix). Gemini B was intended for use with the MOL and thus was not capable of independent operation for longer than 14 hours.
Lunar Gemini?
There were early proposals to use the Gemini capsule for lunar missions. Lunar missions would have been much more cost efficient using Gemini. It is estimated that a lunar orbit could have been achieved 3 years earlier using a Gemini craft, and that a manned landing could have occurred a year earlier than Apollo 11. The trip would have been quite uncomfortable using the Gemini due to the cramped quarters. Another factor dooming a lunar flight for Gemini was that Project Apollo was well underway and NASA had its mind set on a three man mission, not two.
Page last modified: 09 July 2024 18:16:43.
