The history of early space exploration.
Episodes
Friday Mar 16, 2018
Space Rocket History #54 – Gemini 2 – Part 2
Friday Mar 16, 2018
Friday Mar 16, 2018
Gemini Launch Vehicle Two’s misfortunes during August and September 1964 forced NASA to forego its goal of a manned Gemini 3 flight before the end of the year, Gemini-Titan 2 was now scheduled for mid-November 1964, and Gemini 3 for the end of January 1965…
Friday Mar 16, 2018
Space Rocket History #53 – Gemini 2 – Part 1
Friday Mar 16, 2018
Friday Mar 16, 2018
The bright outlook that was prevalent in April turned dark in the late summer of 1964 when a series of natural disasters struck the Cape. First lightning, then hurricanes, damaged the Gemini 2 launch vehicle to delay its flight long past the scheduled time. Even if the weather had been perfect, McDonnell’s difficulties in getting Spacecraft 2 ready to fly might have compromised the schedule on its own…
Friday Mar 16, 2018
Space Rocket History #52 – Gemini 1 – Test Flight – Part 2
Friday Mar 16, 2018
Friday Mar 16, 2018
One second after 11 o’clock Wednesday morning, April 8th 1964, the Titan II booster’s first-stage engine ignited. Four seconds later, the 156 ton vehicle lifted from the pad on that curiously lambent flame so distinctive of Titan II’s hypergolic propellants. Within moments, Gemini-Titan 1 vanished into the hot Florida sky, beyond reach of human senses but not electronic sensors. Telemetry data flowed back to mission controllers at the Cape, telling them that the launch was as nearly perfect as it looked.
Friday Mar 16, 2018
Space Rocket History #51 – Gemini 1 – Test Flight – Part 1
Friday Mar 16, 2018
Friday Mar 16, 2018
“The primary objective of the first Gemini mission, was to prove that the Titan II was capable of launching the Gemini spacecraft into orbit within the tolerances imposed by manned space flight. The secondary objective was for the spacecraft to gather and report data.”
Friday Mar 16, 2018
Space Rocket History #50 – Blue Gemini – 1963
Friday Mar 16, 2018
Friday Mar 16, 2018
“Blue Gemini” was the tag name for an Air Force manned space flight program to develop rendezvous, docking, and transfer for military purposes, using Gemini-type spacecraft. The concept became firmer in June, when the Air Force Space Systems Division (SSD) began working on plans to use Gemini hardware as the first step in a new Air Force man-in-space program called Mods (Manned Orbital Development System), a kind of military space station with Gemini spacecraft as ferry vehicles…
Monday Mar 05, 2018
Space Rocket History #49 – Gemini Systems Design – 1962
Monday Mar 05, 2018
Monday Mar 05, 2018
On January 3 1962, “Gemini” became the official designation of the Mercury Mark II program. The name had been suggested by Alex Nagy of NASA Headquarters because the twin stars Castor and Pollux in constellation Gemini (the Twins) seemed to him to symbolize the program’s two-man crew, its rendezvous mission, and its relation to Mercury. Coincidentally, the astronomical symbol (II) for Gemini, the third constellation of the zodiac, corresponded neatly to the Mark II designation…