"I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely back to Earth," declared President John F. Kennedy on May 25, 1961. By setting such a goal, Kennedy turned around the space race. Instead of NASA struggling to keep up with the Soviets, the Soviets were chasing NASA to the moon. On the other hand, if the Soviets did get to the moon first, it would be disastrous.
At the time when Kennedy stated the goal, the United States had barely gotten started in space flight. How can NASA attempt such an ambitious 386,160 km journey to the moon? Well, they didn't. That's where Project Gemini comes in. Gemini served as the bridge between Mercury (first men in space) and Apollo (journey to the moon). The project developed and perfected the hardware and techniques for a flight to the moon.
The "Unsinkable Molly Brown" and More
The first manned Gemini flight was piloted by veteran astronaut Gus Grissom. Grissom wanted to name his Gemini spacecraft "Molly Brown", after one of the survivors of the Titanic. NASA officials thought that the named lacked dignity, but found Grissom's second choice, "Titanic", even less favorable. Despite the name, Grissom's mission was a success with 3 orbits and a landing on the oceans about 58 miles from the predicted landing point.
Project Gemini had a rapid launch rate of one launch every three months. Gemini 4 was piloted by James A McDivitt and Edward H White. (After Grissom's request for the name "Molly Brown", NASA began referring to the craft with the standard project plus mission number.) White had been given a special assignment: he was going to be the first American to perform a space walk. Four hours after lift-off, White opened the hatch and floated into space. He was wearing a gold-coated visor to shield sunlight and a pressurized space suit. White was connected by a 25-foot-long hose and used the HHMU's tiny thrusters to move around.
The next major objective was to establish orbital rendezvous and docking. This was most difficult, but vital for the Apollo program. After 2 attempts to lift-off failed, Gemini 6 and Gemini 7 were both in orbit and they performed the first controlled rendezvous in space. The two spacecraft flew within one foot of each other; then, they flew in formation for four orbits before landing.
Gemini 8: The Tumbling Episode
Gemini 8 blasted off on March 16, 1966. Neil Armstrong and David Scott were at the controls. An unmanned Agena rocket had gone up 101 minutes earlier. After six hours of chasing the Agena, they were within 150 feet of it. The Gemini 8, its nose to the rocket's docking port and completed the first-ever docking in space. According to Armstrong, it was "a real smoothie." [He wouldn't be so calm if he knew what was in store for him next]
Twenty-seven minutes after the docking, the spacecraft began to tumble and roll. Thinking that the Agena was causing the rolling, Armstrong detached his spaceship. The move backfired; there was nothing wrong with the Agena and their spaceship began rolling faster without the stabilization. One of Gemini 8's thrusters was stuck in position and firing continuously. Scott reported, "We have serious problems here… we're tumbling end over end up here…"
The spacecraft was tumbling at almost one revolution per second. The astronauts would soon become dizzy and disoriented. Armstrong made a quick decision and shut off the orbital maneuvering rockets and activated reentry thrusters. Using these thrusters, he regained control of the craft and went down to Earth. Gemini 8 splashed down nowhere near the predetermined landing point. They splashed down in the Pacific Ocean instead of the Atlantic. Still, they were safe and were soon picked up by a navy destroyer.
Despite the tumbling episode, NASA was happy with the successful docking. There would be four more Gemini missions where astronauts mastered space walks, rendezvous, and docking techniques. With the splashdown of Gemini 12, Project Gemini ended and NASA turned its attention toward Apollo and the moon..
