Project Gemini: The History and Legacy of NASA’s Human Spaceflight Missions Before the Apollo Program

by Charles River Editors

*Includes pictures *Includes a bibliography for further reading *Includes a table of contents Today the Space Race is widely viewed poignantly and fondly as a race to the Moon that culminated with Apollo 11 “winning” the Race for the United States. In fact, it encompassed a much broader range of competition between the Soviet Union and the United States that affected everything from military technology to successfully launching satellites that could land on Mars or orbit other planets in the Solar System. Moreover, the notion that America “won” the Space Race at the end of the 1960s overlooks just how competitive the Space Race actually was in launching people into orbit, as well as the major contributions the Space Race influenced in leading to today’s International Space Station and continued space exploration. In some ways, Project Gemini is a neglected part of the US space program. Sandwiched between the excitement of Project Mercury and the sending of the first American astronauts to space and the euphoria of the Apollo Moon landings, Gemini was a step forward rather than a dramatic leap. However, this project achieved many important firsts, including the first spacewalk, the first rendezvous and docking between two spacecraft, the first flights of more than one week’s duration and many more. And all this was achieved in a staggeringly short space of time – in just twenty months, Project Gemini made ten manned flights, a record that has yet to be broken by any other space program. Gemini also marked another important milestone as America finally surpassed the Soviet Union in space technology. Before Gemini, the US was playing a desperate game of catch-up as it attempted to match Soviet accomplishments. The last Project Mercury flight launched in May 1963, and before then, Russia had put the first satellite in Earth’s orbit and the first man in space and had followed these with longer flights than the tiny Mercury spacecraft. In terms of military significance, it was recognized that the ability to dominate space was very important, and to many people in America, it seemed that Russia was well on the way to doing this. No one could have guessed that it would be almost three years before the next American manned space flight occurred when Gemini 3 left the launch pad in March 1965. It seemed to many people that the Russian lead in space exploration had become unassailable and, in order to reestablish the credibility of the US space program, the Gemini flights simply had to succeed. For these reasons alone, Project Gemini is worth looking at in detail, but it is also a story about human endeavor and triumph against the hazards of space. Astronauts learned not only how to control and monitor flights but how to deal with fatigue, stress, and equipment malfunction. And, unlike their Russian counterparts, the men and women of Project Mercury did all these things in the full glare of intense press and media interest. This meant that their achievements were lauded, but it also meant that their mistakes and setbacks were endlessly discussed and criticized. It also meant that every cent they spent had to be justified and explained. Project The History and Legacy of NASA’s Human Spaceflight Missions Before the Apollo Program examines the origins behind the missions, the people and spacecraft involved, and the historic results. Along with pictures of important people, places, and events, you will learn about Gemini like never before.

70 pages, Kindle Edition

Published January 14, 2021

About the author

Charles River Editors is an independent publisher of thousands of ebooks on Kindle, Nook, Kobo, and Apple iBookstore & provider of original content for third parties.

Reviews

[Erin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Meh. 2.5 stars. Also, did I just realize that this author is actually the name of the publisher? YUP.

[James Crawford · Rating 3 out of 5]

There's a lot of duplication in this book of material in the Project Mercury book and I don't think that was really necessary. After that part is over the book talks about the Saturn rockets, the Titan I and Titan II rockets and a landing system that was proposed for the Gemini craft but was dropped.

The book goes into the various problems the rockets had and the many delays that there were in launching. It goes into who was selected for the flights, the dates of the flights and the first American EVAs. It also goes into a discussion of a major goal of the series being able to actually dock two craft in space, something which would be a requirement in the Apollo program.

It discusses the Apollo 1 fire and what was done after that. There are also online resources listed and a section for further reading.

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

As with other Charles River Editors books, this one borrows some of its copy from its predecessor, "Project Mercury." While a recap is helpful, the verbatim repetition is off-putting, and surely it's not inconceivable that someone would read multiple books on similar subjects by this publisher.

Still, this book shines as an erudite, insightful, yet succinct summation of the history and contributions of the Gemini project. Sandwiched between the Mercury and Apollo projects, Gemini gets less attention, as the authors note. Yet many advances were made with Gemini, such as spacecraft big enough for more than one person, onboard computers, the docking of spacecraft, etc. In short, Gemini built on Mercury and made the lunar missions of Apollo possible.

Definitely recommended and enjoyable!

[Sattik Deb · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is one of the most dreadful audiobooks I have ever listened to. In terms of the content, the book reads like it was written by some middle-aged guy who fancies himself a space expert because he visited the Kennedy Space Center a couple times and teaches a couple writing classes at a local community college. The pedestrian writing style, I suppose, is apt for a self-published work. More egregious was the inclusion of factual errors paired with the frequent omission of basic details. The audio reading itself has a lot to be desired too. One would think that the voice actor would know, or at least be told, how to pronounce the names of the astronauts and other key players. Perhaps the best attribute of this work is how short it is.

[Bennie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good concise review of the Gemini program, its failures and successes. As a kid, I followed every mission and knew the names of all the astronauts. It was fun following the launches, mission and splashdown. Unfortunately, for too long, the space program had become a ho-hum deal to the everyday person. Glad to see it is exciting more people these days with the civilian companies becoming involved.

[Jose · Rating 5 out of 5]

Project Gemini: The History and Legacy of NASA’s Human Spaceflight Mission

Pleasant reading, full of pleasant memories about the challenges and achievements in this Space program, including in it, certain stories that were not of my knowledge.

[Keir Thomas · Rating 2 out of 5]

A bit...all over the place. Not very detailed, and a rather scattered. Lots about things others than Project Gemini that we already know.

[Ponder Stine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty short but a good overview and good pictures and information