Project Gemini was the fisrt NASA program to have its own program patch. The ten manned flights of the Gemini spacecraft transformed the United States from a distant second place in the space race to the leader in the race for the moon.
The first manned flight of the two seat Gemini spacecraft. Its mission was to evaluate the two man spacecraft design as well as the tracking network and recovery procedures.
This was the first mission to test the oribital rendezvous concept that was critcial to the moon landing missions to follow. Its mission was rendezvous and station keep with Gemini VII.
The 14 day mission set a record as the longest manned space flight until the advent of the Skylab space station in the 1970's. Gemini VII also provided a rendezvous and station keeping target for Gemini 6.
Mission: Rendezvous and dock with Gemini Agena target vehicle (GATV-5003) launched on 3/16/1966. This was the first ever docking of vehicles in earth orbit.
Planned to be the first manned flight of the Apollo program but during a pre-flight rehersal a fire in the command module killed the three crew members.
Emergency in Space. An onboard explosion during the outbound trip aborted the lunar landing mission. Through a herculean effort of the ground controllers and the calm resolve of the astronauts, the crew was safely returned to earth.
Journey to Frau Mauro. Conducted two EVAs totaling 9 hours and 22 minutes. The mission was a personal triumph for Commnader Shepard as it marked his return to space after a medical problem which had kept him grounded for years.
