Gemini Rocket
Project Gemini was the second human spaceflight
program of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. It operated
between Projects Mercury and Apollo, with 10 manned flights occurring in
1965 and 1966. Its objective was to develop techniques for advanced space
travel, notably those necessary for Project Apollo, whose objective was
to land men on the Moon. Gemini missions included the first American extravehicular
activity, and new orbital maneuvers included rendezvous and docking.
Gemini was originally seen as a simple extrapolation of the Mercury program, and thus early on was called Mercury Mark II. The actual program had little in common with Mercury and was in fact superior to even Apollo in some ways. (See Big Gemini.) This was mainly a result of its late start date, which allowed it to benefit from much that had been learned during the early stages of the Apollo project (which, despite its later launch dates, was actually begun before Gemini).
Gemini was originally seen as a simple extrapolation of the Mercury program, and thus early on was called Mercury Mark II. The actual program had little in common with Mercury and was in fact superior to even Apollo in some ways. (See Big Gemini.) This was mainly a result of its late start date, which allowed it to benefit from much that had been learned during the early stages of the Apollo project (which, despite its later launch dates, was actually begun before Gemini).