Gemini 3 "Molly Brown"
Project Mercury had put Americans into space; Project Gemini was the next stepping stone to the eventual goal of the legendary Space Race: the Moon. True to its name, Gemini would use two-man spacecraft.
Though NASA had always intended Gemini as the next step between the largely experimental Mercury and the moon-bound Apollo, designing the capsule was going to be complicated. The Mercury capsule could serve as a basis, but needed to be significantly upscaled to not only carry two astronauts, but also extra oxygen supplies and more fuel. The Gemini capsule would be designed by a team of American and Canadian engineers, with significant help from Virgil "Gus" Grissom, one of the original Mercury Seven. A solution was found to the oxygen and fuel problems by putting them into an "Adapter Module" at the rear of the spacecraft. Maintenance and reliability were greatly improved over Mercury, and Grissom's input was to put the astronauts truly in control of their craft. The Gemini also used a more powerful launch vehicle, the Gemini-Titan, adapted from the Titan II ICBM.
After two test flights, Gemini got underway with Gemini 3 in March 1965. It would continue until November 1966 with Gemini 12. Gemini would prove to be a success: astronauts were able to rendezvous with test vehicles in space and with each other, space walks were conducted safely and of long duration, and the astronauts themselves set records for endurance in space. All of this proved that Apollo's Moon missions were indeed feasible, and Gemini marked the moment where the United States overtook the Soviet Union in the Space Race.
Gemini 3 was the first manned Gemini mission, and given Grissom's input into the program, it only made sense to make him the command pilot; he was joined by John Young. Gemini 3 was mainly just a test flight to make sure the Gemini system worked and that it could maneuver in space. Other than a small water leak and the fact that they undershot their landing zone by over 50 miles (which was the fault of the Gemini design rather than the astronauts), Grissom and Young enjoyed a trouble-free flight, albeit one that only lasted four hours.
Gemini 3 was the only Gemini capsule officially named--at Grissom's suggestion, "Molly Brown," after the Broadway play "The Unsinkable Molly Brown." This was a joke on Grissom's part, since his first capsule, the Mercury "Liberty Bell 7," had sank after splashdown. NASA was not amused and forbid the astronauts from officially naming the rest of the Gemini missions, though the practice was revived for the Apollo missions.
Sadly, it would prove to be Grissom's last spaceflight. He was killed in the launch pad fire of Apollo 1, along with fellow Gemini alumni Ed White and rookie astronaut Roger Chaffee, on 27 January 1967. Young would command Gemini 10, then go to the Moon twice with Apollo 10 and 16 (one of only three people to do so), and topped off an amazing career by commanding the first two Space Shuttle flights. He died of natural causes in January 2018.
Dad built this Gemini capsule as a tribute to Grissom, along with Liberty Bell 7. The Geminis were somewhat plain compared to the decorated Mercury capsules and the polished Apollos. The real Gemini 3 is today displayed at the Grissom Memorial in Mitchell, Indiana--Gus Grissom's hometown.
Gemini 3 "Molly Brown"
Project Mercury had put Americans into space; Project Gemini was the next stepping stone to the eventual goal of the legendary Space Race: the Moon. True to its name, Gemini would use two-man spacecraft.
Though NASA had always intended Gemini as the next step between the largely experimental Mercury and the moon-bound Apollo, designing the capsule was going to be complicated. The Mercury capsule could serve as a basis, but needed to be significantly upscaled to not only carry two astronauts, but also extra oxygen supplies and more fuel. The Gemini capsule would be designed by a team of American and Canadian engineers, with significant help from Virgil "Gus" Grissom, one of the original Mercury Seven. A solution was found to the oxygen and fuel problems by putting them into an "Adapter Module" at the rear of the spacecraft. Maintenance and reliability were greatly improved over Mercury, and Grissom's input was to put the astronauts truly in control of their craft. The Gemini also used a more powerful launch vehicle, the Gemini-Titan, adapted from the Titan II ICBM.
After two test flights, Gemini got underway with Gemini 3 in March 1965. It would continue until November 1966 with Gemini 12. Gemini would prove to be a success: astronauts were able to rendezvous with test vehicles in space and with each other, space walks were conducted safely and of long duration, and the astronauts themselves set records for endurance in space. All of this proved that Apollo's Moon missions were indeed feasible, and Gemini marked the moment where the United States overtook the Soviet Union in the Space Race.
Gemini 3 was the first manned Gemini mission, and given Grissom's input into the program, it only made sense to make him the command pilot; he was joined by John Young. Gemini 3 was mainly just a test flight to make sure the Gemini system worked and that it could maneuver in space. Other than a small water leak and the fact that they undershot their landing zone by over 50 miles (which was the fault of the Gemini design rather than the astronauts), Grissom and Young enjoyed a trouble-free flight, albeit one that only lasted four hours.
Gemini 3 was the only Gemini capsule officially named--at Grissom's suggestion, "Molly Brown," after the Broadway play "The Unsinkable Molly Brown." This was a joke on Grissom's part, since his first capsule, the Mercury "Liberty Bell 7," had sank after splashdown. NASA was not amused and forbid the astronauts from officially naming the rest of the Gemini missions, though the practice was revived for the Apollo missions.
Sadly, it would prove to be Grissom's last spaceflight. He was killed in the launch pad fire of Apollo 1, along with fellow Gemini alumni Ed White and rookie astronaut Roger Chaffee, on 27 January 1967. Young would command Gemini 10, then go to the Moon twice with Apollo 10 and 16 (one of only three people to do so), and topped off an amazing career by commanding the first two Space Shuttle flights. He died of natural causes in January 2018.
Dad built this Gemini capsule as a tribute to Grissom, along with Liberty Bell 7. The Geminis were somewhat plain compared to the decorated Mercury capsules and the polished Apollos. The real Gemini 3 is today displayed at the Grissom Memorial in Mitchell, Indiana--Gus Grissom's hometown.