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Black Hawk Publishing Co.
Beyond the Stars –NASA’s 50 Years of Manned Space Flight-Part 3 - Project Gemini - Bridge to Apollo
Beyond the Stars –NASA’s 50 Years of Manned Space Flight-Part 3 - Project Gemini - Bridge to Apollo
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This more than 4,000 word monograph is illustrated by more than 30 photos.
The Gemini program was designed to investigate in actual flight many of the critical situations which NASA would face later in the voyage of Apollo. The spacecraft carried an onboard propulsion system for maneuvering in Earth orbit. A guidance and navigation system and a rendezvous radar were provided to permit astronauts to try out various techniques of rendezvous and docking with an Agena target vehicle. After docking, the astronauts could light off the Agena rocket for large changes in orbit, simulating the entry-into-lunar-orbit and the return-to-Earth burns of Apollo. Gemini was the first to use the controlled reentry system that was required for Apollo in returning from the Moon. It had latches that could be opened and closed in space to permit extravehicular activity by astronauts, and fuel cells similar in purpose to those of Apollo to permit flights of long duration. The spacecraft was small by Apollo standards, carrying only two men in close quarters. However, the Titan II launch vehicle, which was the best available at that time, could not manage a larger payload.
A total of 10 manned flights were made in the Gemini program between March 1965 and November 1966. They gave NASA nearly 2000 man-hours in space and developed the rendezvous and docking techniques essential to Apollo. By burning the Agena rockets after docking, NASA was able to go to altitudes of more than 800 nautical miles and prove the feasibility of the precise space maneuvers essential to Apollo. NASA’s first experience in EVA was obtained with Gemini and difficulties here early in the program paved the way for the smoothly working EVA systems used later on the Moon. The Borman and Lovell flight, Gemini VII, proved that durations up to two weeks were possible without serious medical problems, and the later flights showed the importance of neutral buoyancy training in preparation of zero-gravity operations outside the spacecraft.
The Gemini program was designed to investigate in actual flight many of the critical situations which NASA would face later in the voyage of Apollo. The spacecraft carried an onboard propulsion system for maneuvering in Earth orbit. A guidance and navigation system and a rendezvous radar were provided to permit astronauts to try out various techniques of rendezvous and docking with an Agena target vehicle. After docking, the astronauts could light off the Agena rocket for large changes in orbit, simulating the entry-into-lunar-orbit and the return-to-Earth burns of Apollo. Gemini was the first to use the controlled reentry system that was required for Apollo in returning from the Moon. It had latches that could be opened and closed in space to permit extravehicular activity by astronauts, and fuel cells similar in purpose to those of Apollo to permit flights of long duration. The spacecraft was small by Apollo standards, carrying only two men in close quarters. However, the Titan II launch vehicle, which was the best available at that time, could not manage a larger payload.
A total of 10 manned flights were made in the Gemini program between March 1965 and November 1966. They gave NASA nearly 2000 man-hours in space and developed the rendezvous and docking techniques essential to Apollo. By burning the Agena rockets after docking, NASA was able to go to altitudes of more than 800 nautical miles and prove the feasibility of the precise space maneuvers essential to Apollo. NASA’s first experience in EVA was obtained with Gemini and difficulties here early in the program paved the way for the smoothly working EVA systems used later on the Moon. The Borman and Lovell flight, Gemini VII, proved that durations up to two weeks were possible without serious medical problems, and the later flights showed the importance of neutral buoyancy training in preparation of zero-gravity operations outside the spacecraft.
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