This weekend marked the 60th anniversary of the Gemini III mission, which took place on March 23, 1965. The flight, while being one of many that would eventually lead to Neil Armstrong’s famous first steps on the moon, would itself establish many firsts that would define mankind’s traversal of the stars.
This was the first manned mission of the Project Gemini, with Virgil “Gus” Grissom acting as command pilot and John W. Young as copilot. Flying as the first two-manned spaceflight in American history, the duo would complete three orbits around Earth in just under five hours. Their spacecraft was the Molly Brown, named after the Broadway musical: “The Unsinkable Molly Brown.” This was in reference to Grissom’s experience in Project Mercury, as the Liberty Bell 7 capsule he piloted had sunk after his recovery.
Famously, Gemini III marked the first time thrusters were used to intentionally change the trajectory of a crewed spacecraft’s orbit. Doing so would allow the craft to reenter the Earth’s atmosphere safely in case their capsule’s retrorockets had failed. This, however, caused the duo to land in the Atlantic Ocean just off the coast of Grand Turk Island: nearly 111 kilometers from their planned target.
Another objective of the mission was to take photographs of their orbital coverage. NARA’s series from Mercury and Gemini collection contain multiple shots from the cockpit, showcasing Texas, southeastern Africa, and large swaths of the Indian Ocean. This mission objective was not fully successful, however, as the camera’s improper lens settings rendered the captured images out of focus.
These photographs can be found in NARA’s Still Picture series 255-MG-Gemini-III, with shots from the flight depicting southeastern Africa, Madagascar, and the Indian Ocean.
Gemini III also made its mark in another field: food culture. John Young, wanting more than the preapproved meals packed by NASA for the mission, smuggled a corned beef sandwich into his spacesuit’s pocket just before mission launch. Nearly two hours into their mission, Young produced the sandwich from his suit pocket and offered Grissom a bite (which he generously accepted). Due to the fear of crumbs from the “hidden hoagie” getting into the sensitive machinery (one of the reasons NASA scientists developed food made for space travel), the men were reprimanded once they returned from their historic flight.
For more information about the science of engineering food for space travel, take a look at Ivy Donnell’s post about the topic: Beyond Astronaut Ice Cream: How Consumer America Engineered Food for Space Exploration.
Through Projects’ Mercury and Gemini, scientists and engineers were able to work out the procedures, technologies, and even cuisine needed to launch Project Apollo, culminating in the mission that put a man on the moon. The Unwritten Record’s NASA tag contains much more from NARA’s holdings from the space agency’s missions amongst the stars.