1965 American crewed space mission
This article is about the American space mission in the mid-1960s. For the model of double-decker bus body, see
Wright Eclipse Gemini 3
.
Gemini 3
![](//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c5/G3C_spacesuit_Gemini_3.jpg/260px-G3C_spacesuit_Gemini_3.jpg) Astronauts John Young and Gus Grissom walk up the ramp leading to the elevator that will carry them to the spacecraft for the first crewed Gemini mission
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Mission type
| Test flight
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Operator
| NASA
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COSPAR ID
| 1965-024A
![Edit this at Wikidata](//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/8/8a/OOjs_UI_icon_edit-ltr-progressive.svg/10px-OOjs_UI_icon_edit-ltr-progressive.svg.png) |
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SATCAT
no.
| 1301
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Mission duration
| 4 hours, 52 minutes, 31 seconds
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Distance travelled
| 128,748 kilometers (80,000 mi)
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Orbits completed
| 3
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Spacecraft
| Gemini
SC3
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Manufacturer
| McDonnell
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Launch mass
| 3,237 kilograms (7,136 lb)
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Crew size
| 2
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Members
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Callsign
| Molly Brown
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Launch date
| March 23, 1965, 14:24:00
(
1965-03-23UTC14:24Z
)
UTC
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Rocket
| Titan II GLV
,
s/n 62-12558
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Launch site
| Cape Kennedy
LC-19
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Recovered by
| USS
Intrepid
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Landing date
| March 23, 1965, 19:16:31
(
1965-03-23UTC19:16:32Z
)
UTC
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Landing site
| 22°26′N
70°51′W
/
22.433°N 70.850°W
/
22.433; -70.850
(
Gemini 3 splashdown
)
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Reference system
| Geocentric
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Regime
| Low Earth orbit
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Perigee altitude
| 161 kilometers (87 nmi)
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Apogee altitude
| 225 kilometers (121 nmi)
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Inclination
| 32.6 degrees
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Period
| 88.35 minutes
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Epoch
| March 23, 1965
[1]
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![Gemini III Insignia](//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c7/Gemini_III_patch.png/180px-Gemini_III_patch.png) Gemini III Patch
![](//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/55/Astronauts_Virgil_I._Grissom_%28left%29_and_John_W._Young.jpg/220px-Astronauts_Virgil_I._Grissom_%28left%29_and_John_W._Young.jpg) (L-R) Grissom, Young
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Gemini 3
was the first crewed mission in
NASA
's
Project Gemini
and was the first time two American astronauts flew together into space. On March 23, 1965, astronauts
Gus Grissom
and
John Young
flew three
low Earth orbits
in their spacecraft, which they nicknamed
Molly Brown
. It was the first U.S. mission in which the crew fired thrusters to change the size and shape of their orbit, a key test of spacecraft maneuverability vital for planned flights to the Moon. It was also the final crewed flight controlled from
Cape Kennedy Air Force Station
in Florida, before
mission control functions
were moved to
a new control center
at the newly opened
Manned Spacecraft Center
in Houston, Texas.
Crew
[
edit
]
Backup crew
[
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]
(This was the prime crew on Gemini 6)
Original crew
[
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]
The crew of Gemini 3 was changed after Shepard was grounded with an inner ear disorder in late 1963.
Support crew
[
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Mission parameters
[
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]
Objectives
[
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Young atop a Gemini spacecraft with Grissom in the water at left at the Manned Spacecraft Center during water egress training
The mission's primary goal was to test the new, maneuverable Gemini spacecraft. In space, the crew fired thrusters to change the shape of their orbit, shift their orbital plane slightly, and drop to a lower altitude. Other firsts were achieved on Gemini 3: two people flew aboard an American spacecraft (the Soviet Union launched a three-person crew on
Voskhod 1
in 1964 and a two-person crew just a few days earlier on
Voskhod 2
, upstaging the two-person Gemini and three-person Apollo programs), and the first crewed reentry where the spacecraft was able to produce lift to change its touchdown point.
The mission also tested a system that had originally been designed for the cancelled
Mercury-Atlas 10
mission, in which water was injected into the plasma sheath surrounding the capsule during re-entry. This had the effect of improving communications with the ground.
[3]
First orbital maneuver by crewed spacecraft
[
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]
On March 23, 1965, at 15:57:00
UTC
, at the end of the first orbit, over
Corpus Christi, Texas
, a 1-minute 14 second burn of the
Orbit Attitude and Maneuvering System
(OAMS) engines gave a reverse
delta-V
of 15.5 meters per second (51 ft/s), which changed the orbit from 161.2 by 224.2 kilometers (87.0 by 121.1 nautical miles) (with a period of 88.3 minutes), to an orbit of 158 by 169 kilometers (85 by 91 nmi) (period of 87.8 minutes). This was the first orbital maneuver made by any crewed spacecraft.
Flight
[
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]
Launch of the first crewed Gemini flight
Astronaut
Roger B. Chaffee
is shown at console in the Mission Control Center, Houston, Texas during Gemini 3's flight
Gus Grissom, hoping to avoid duplication of the experience with his
Mercury
flight
Liberty Bell 7
in which the capsule sank after
splashdown
, named the Gemini 3 spacecraft
Molly Brown
, in a playful reference to the Broadway musical
The Unsinkable Molly Brown
.
NASA
management did not like this name, and asked him to change it. Grissom replied, "How about the
Titanic
?". The managers relented and allowed Grissom to keep
Molly Brown
, but this was the last Gemini flight they allowed the astronauts to name.
The only major incident during the orbital phase involved a contraband
corned beef sandwich
that Young had
smuggled
on board, hiding it in a pocket of his spacesuit (though Director of Flight Crew Operations
Deke Slayton
wrote in his autobiography that he gave Young permission to do so). Grissom found this to be highly amusing, saying later, "After the flight our superiors at NASA let us know in no uncertain terms that non-man-rated corned beef sandwiches were out for future space missions. But John's deadpan offer of this strictly non-regulation goodie remains one of the highlights of our flight for me."
[4]
The crewmen each took a few bites before the sandwich was restowed. The crumbs it released could have wreaked havoc with the craft's electronics, so the crewmen were reprimanded when they returned to Earth. Other crews were warned not to pull the same type of stunt.
[5]
Two small failures occurred in-flight. The first was an experiment testing the synergistic effect of zero gravity on
sea urchin
eggs. A lever essential to the experiment broke off when pulled. The second involved the photographic coverage objective. It was only partially successful due to an improper lens setting on the 16 mm camera.
Early in the flight, the crew noticed the craft gradually yawing left:
00 18 41 (Command Pilot) I seem to have a leak. There must be a leak in one of the thrusters, because I get a continuous yaw left.
00 18 53 (CapCom) Roger. Understand that you get a continuous yaw left.
00 18 57 (Command Pilot) Very slight. Very slow drift.
[6]
First attributed to a stuck thruster, the problem was traced to a venting water boiler.
[7]
The crewmen made their first
orbit
change an hour and a half into the flight. The burn lasted 75 seconds and moved them from a 122-by-175-kilometer (66-by-94-nautical-mile) orbit to a nearly circular one with a drop in speed of 15 m/s (49 ft/s). The second burn, changing the orbital inclination by 0.02 degrees, was made 45 minutes later. The last burn, during the third orbit, lowered the perigee to 72 km (39 nmi). This was made so, in case the retrorockets had failed, the spacecraft would still have reentered the atmosphere. The experience of reentry initially matched expectations, with even the color and pattern of the plasma sheath that enveloped the capsule matching those produced for ground simulations. However, it soon became clear that
Molly Brown
was off course and would land 69 km (37 nmi) off target. Though
wind tunnel
studies had suggested the spacecraft could maneuver to make up for the discrepancy, Gemini's real lift was far less than predicted, and Grissom was unable to significantly adjust course.
Molly Brown
ultimately landed 84 km (45 nmi) short of its intended
splashdown
point.
[8]
This was not the only unexpected event of the short descent: After its
parachutes
were deployed, the spacecraft shifted from a vertical to horizontal attitude. The change was so sudden that Grissom cracked his faceplate (made of
acrylic
) on the control panel in front of him. Later Gemini spacesuits and all Apollo and Space Shuttle (both launch-entry and EVA suits) used
polycarbonate
plastic.
A U.S. Coast Guard HH-52A over the Gemini 3 capsule.
Upon landing, the astronauts decided to stay in the capsule, not wanting to open the hatch before the arrival of the recovery ship. The crew spent an uncomfortable half-hour in a spacecraft not designed to be a boat. Due to unexpected smoke from the thrusters, the astronauts decided to deviate from the post landing checklist and to keep their helmets on with the face plates closed for some time after splashdown.
[6]
USS
Intrepid
recovered the craft and crew. The
Gemini III
mission was supported by 10,185 personnel, 126 aircraft and 27 ships from the
United States Department of Defense
.
Insignia
[
edit
]
Gemini 3 space-flown silver
Fliteline Medallion
The mission insignia was not worn by the flight crew as a patch, like those from Gemini 5 onwards. The Gemini 3
The Molly Brown
emblem was designed and minted on gold-plated, sterling silver, 1-inch (25 mm) medallions. The crew carried a number of these medallions into space to give to their families and friends. The same design was printed on the cover of Grissom's book
Gemini!: A Personal Account of Man's Venture Into Space
. Young was seen wearing the emblem as a patch, produced post-flight, on his flightsuit as late as 1981.
Spacecraft location
[
edit
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The spacecraft is on display within the Grissom Memorial of
Spring Mill State Park
, two miles east of Grissom's hometown of
Mitchell, Indiana
.
See also
[
edit
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References
[
edit
]
- ^
McDowell, Jonathan.
"SATCAT"
. Jonathan's Space Pages
. Retrieved
March 23,
2014
.
- ^
a
b
"Gemini 3 (3)"
.
Kennedy Space Center: Science, Technology, and Engineering
. August 25, 2000. Archived from
the original
on March 4, 2012
. Retrieved
September 20,
2016
.
- ^
NASA: Gemini 3
- ^
"Our Gemini Astronauts Tell Their Own Story"
.
newspapers.com
. Miami News. April 2, 1965
. Retrieved
April 1,
2023
.
- ^
"NASA History: Detailed Biographies of Apollo I Crew - Gus Grissom"
. NASA
. Retrieved
January 20,
2009
.
- ^
a
b
"Gemini III radio transcript on Spacelog"
. National Astronaut and Space Administration. April 1965. Archived from
the original
on 2014-10-26
. Retrieved
2011-05-01
.
- ^
French, Francis and Burgess, Colin. "In the Shadow of the Moon". University of Nebraska Press, 2007, p. 11.
- ^
Hacker, Barton; Grimwood, James (1966).
On the Shoulders of Titans
. Washington D.C.: NASA. p. 236.
This article incorporates
public domain material
from websites or documents of the
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
.
External links
[
edit
]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to
Gemini 3
.
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Missions
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Astronauts
|
- Gemini 3
:
Gus Grissom
(command pilot),
John Young
(pilot)
- Gemini 4
:
James McDivitt
(command pilot),
Ed White
(pilot)
- Gemini 5
:
Gordon Cooper
(command pilot),
Pete Conrad
(pilot)
- Gemini 7
:
Frank Borman
(command pilot),
Jim Lovell
(pilot)
- Gemini 6A
:
Wally Schirra
(command pilot),
Tom Stafford
(pilot)
- Gemini 8
:
Neil Armstrong
(command pilot),
David Scott
(pilot)
- Gemini 9A
:
Tom Stafford
(command pilot),
Gene Cernan
(pilot)
- Gemini 10
:
John Young
(command pilot),
Michael Collins
(pilot)
- Gemini 11
:
Pete Conrad
(command pilot),
Richard Gordon
(pilot)
- Gemini 12
:
Jim Lovell
(command pilot),
Buzz Aldrin
(pilot)
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Components
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Launch sites
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Developments
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Related
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Payloads are separated by bullets ( · ), launches by pipes ( | ). Crewed flights are indicated in
underline
. Uncatalogued launch failures are listed in
italics
. Payloads deployed from other spacecraft are denoted in (brackets).
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