Author Topic: The Gemini Program (Read 14744 times)

Blackstar · « **on:** 10/01/2011 11:27 pm »

The first of my two-part summary of the Gemini symposium mentioned in another thread.

http://www.thespacereview.com/article/1939/1

beb · « **Reply #1 on:** 10/01/2011 11:58 pm »

thanks for this report

robertross · « **Reply #2 on:** 10/02/2011 02:15 am »

That was a great read Dwayne, thanks; I learned quite a lot!

Phillip Clark · « **Reply #3 on:** 10/02/2011 07:55 am »

Excellent reviews, Dwayne.

Do you know whether the presentations will be published anywhere as a conference report or something similar?

Archibald · « **Reply #4 on:** 10/02/2011 09:13 am »

Quote

Gemini has long been the Jan Brady of the American space program, the ignored middle child.

So true. And entertainment did not helped either: Mercury has The Right Stuff, while Apollo has From the Earth to the Moon. .
But what about Gemini ?
Even Marooned jumped from Mercury / Vostok (the original book) to Apollo / lifting bodies (the movie).

Gemini deserve its own book or TV show or movie !

Phillip Clark · « **Reply #5 on:** 10/02/2011 11:07 am »

Quote from: Archibald on 10/02/2011 09:13 am

Gemini deserve its own book or TV show or movie !

Didn't a Gemini spacecraft feature heavily in that technically-accurate film, "Countdown"? Even made it to the Moon, if I am thinking of the right film.

I am hoping that "On The Shoulders of Titans" gets a re-issue, as have other NASA histories in recent years.

mike robel · « **Reply #6 on:** 10/02/2011 12:28 pm »

Quote from: Archibald on 10/02/2011 09:13 am

Quote
Gemini has long been the Jan Brady of the American space program, the ignored middle child.

So true. And entertainment did not helped either: Mercury has The Right Stuff, while Apollo has From the Earth to the Moon. .
But what about Gemini ?
Even Marooned jumped from Mercury / Vostok (the original book) to Apollo / lifting bodies (the movie).

Gemini deserve its own book or TV show or movie !

The original Marooned Novel, which I have around here somewhere, featured a Gemini rescueing Pruett.

GClark · « **Reply #7 on:** 10/02/2011 12:58 pm »

There is also Autopsy For A Cosmonaut. Pathologist gets recruited in secret to do an on-orbit retrieval of tissue samples from two dead cosmonauts. Gemini is the ride of choice.

JosephB · « **Reply #8 on:** 10/02/2011 02:14 pm »

Fun read Blackstar. It'll be interesting to see if any more B info/hardware comes to light.

Apollo-phill · « **Reply #9 on:** 10/02/2011 02:18 pm »

I've added my article "Gemini Digest" to Google Docs - after numerous tries to get them to upload my PDFs but won't let me.

So,I've added the file as a link which you can get access to through following:-

https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=0B5zCq_589t8vMzc2ZDE1YWMtOWJlYi00YWM3LWE1ZWItYmFmNWFmOGY5ZjZh&hl=en

I wrote this way way back in early 70s (I think !) and had a lot of help from McD and NASA at the time.

May give some quick detail for those too young to remember Gemini 'live' - which I was fortunate enough to do :-))

Phill

Apollo-phill · « **Reply #10 on:** 10/02/2011 02:25 pm »

I also did a Mercury Digest in 1970s - with great assistance from McD,NASA and USIS - and you can see the reproduction of original article here:-

https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=0B5zCq_589t8vMDNhZTc1ZTUtZDI3NC00MWFhLWJlMTgtYjY2MWVmYzFkNDk5&hl=en_US

Enjoy

Phill

Art LeBrun · « **Reply #11 on:** 10/02/2011 04:45 pm »

For some additional easy reading on Gemini a book called TWO INTO THE BLUE is available and written by Robert Adcock who participated in all 12 Gemini launches - some as a test conductor. This is the launch vehicle side of the story.

Soft bound 6x9 126 pages of text and images

Amazon has two reviews of the book.

Blackstar · « **Reply #12 on:** 10/02/2011 04:56 pm »

Quote from: Phillip Clark on 10/02/2011 07:55 am

Do you know whether the presentations will be published anywhere as a conference report or something similar?

I can almost guarantee that they won't. This was a relatively bare-bones affair, with only about 40-50 people in attendance, a small venue (the cafeteria at the Maryland Air National Guard Base in Middle River) and not much money behind it. Somebody there was running a video camera, so the museum might have video recording of the event. But that's it.

robertross · « **Reply #13 on:** 10/02/2011 06:19 pm »

Quote from: Art LeBrun on 10/02/2011 04:45 pm

For some additional easy reading on Gemini a book called TWO INTO THE BLUE is available and written by Robert Adcock who participated in all 12 Gemini launches - some as a test conductor. This is the launch vehicle side of the story.

Soft bound 6x9 126 pages of text and images

Thanks, I'll add it to my X-MAS list

Herb Schaltegger · « **Reply #14 on:** 10/03/2011 02:17 pm »

Quote from: Blackstar on 10/01/2011 11:34 pm

It is unclear just how many Gemini-B spaceraft were actually built. Perhaps sitting in a warehouse somewhere are a couple of unused Gemini spacecraft, still in their plastic wrap. Perhaps there are still some lessons for Gemini to teach us.

That's a nice, romantic notion isn't it? I can see it now. Picture a government surplus action. "And next up for bid, ladies and gentlemen: One lot consisting of 6 pristine, still-in-the-shrinkwrap spacecraft. Warning: elastomers may be deteriorated. Spaceworthiness not guaranteed. Titan II not included."

Blackstar · « **Reply #15 on:** 10/03/2011 05:48 pm »

Part 1 of the article is now up.

http://www.thespacereview.com/article/1939/1

Riding Titans (part 1)
by Dwayne A. Day
Monday, October 3, 2011

A few years ago a company produced a pretty nifty poster about the Space Race. It demonstrated in graphical form what the two superpowers did in the race to put humans into space in the 1960s. What the poster made clear was that after an initial and spectacular head start with Yuri Gagarin, the Americans not only sprinted to catch up but soon rapidly surpassed the Soviet Union in terms of number of space missions, altitude, and time in orbit. The reason was the Gemini program: twelve missions, ten of them carrying astronauts, flown between April 1964 and November 1966.

Gemini has long been the Jan Brady of the American space program, the ignored middle child. If it is remembered at all it is remembered for its operations accomplishments, proving that astronauts could maneuver their spacecraft, rendezvous and dock with other spacecraft, and walk in space. But Gemini also represented the point in the Space Race when the United States shot past its rival and never looked back.

On September 24 the Glenn L. Martin Museum, located in a working class suburb of Baltimore, Maryland, held a Gemini symposium. The museum is a small operation, persevering on hard work, grit, and a shoestring budget. It is located near the site of what used to be a vast aircraft production facility, and later played an important role in the Gemini program, producing the Titan II rockets that literally shot the astronauts into orbit.

Blackstar · « **Reply #16 on:** 10/09/2011 01:13 am »

These photos will accompany part 2, which will appear on Monday.

Rocket Science · « **Reply #17 on:** 10/09/2011 01:33 am »

A truly great program! We had a steep learning curve during those heady days. Thanks to all those who worked the progam and thank you for posting the link.
Regards
Robert

Blackstar · « **Reply #18 on:** 10/10/2011 11:44 pm »

Part 2 is now up:

http://www.thespacereview.com/article/1944/1

Riding Titans (part 2)
by Dwayne A. Day

On September 24 the Glenn L. Martin History Museum in Middle River, Maryland, just outside Baltimore, sponsored a symposium on the Gemini program. The symposium consisted of two sessions, with the morning session focusing on the overall program and the role that Martin played in the construction of the Titan II rocket, and the afternoon session devoted to Gemini operations (see “Riding Titans (part 1)”, The Space Review, October 3, 2011). The afternoon session was moderated by Space Shuttle astronaut Tom Jones, a Middle River native. It was devoted to Gemini spaceflight operations.

Art LeBrun · « **Reply #19 on:** 10/23/2011 04:23 am »

Gemini Titan II SLV at Martin-Baltimore 1963-1964...........

Blackstar · « **Reply #20 on:** 10/23/2011 01:30 pm »

Those are great. Thank you.

During the symposium they had some photos and models set out on some tables. They had some nice photos that they had enlarged and that showed the various stages of construction. I have not looked in the book On the Shoulders of Titans to see how much of this history is recounted there.

The Glenn L. Martin Museum is a little thing, but when I visited their archives a couple of years ago they were very helpful.

Proponent · « **Reply #21 on:** 10/23/2011 03:18 pm »

I didn't realize that Martin still had a presence in Baltimore in 1964. When did it finally move out completely?

Blackstar · « **Reply #22 on:** 10/23/2011 05:00 pm »

Quote from: Proponent on 10/23/2011 03:18 pm

I didn't realize that Martin still had a presence in Baltimore in 1964. When did it finally move out completely?

It's still there:

http://www.lockheedmartin.com/aboutus/energy-environment/places/remediation/MiddleRiverMD.html

Gene DiGennaro · « **Reply #23 on:** 10/24/2011 05:18 pm »

Lockheed Martin is still there, albiet not in the way you'd think. LM manufactures the Vertical Launch Systems in Middle River for the USN. LM sold most of the airframe and thrust reverser manufacturing capability to GE in the late 1990s, so the old Martin facility is shared by Middle River Aircraft Systems ( a GE subsidiary) and Lockheed Martin.

Blackstar · « **Reply #24 on:** 10/24/2011 06:43 pm »

Quote from: Gene DiGennaro on 10/24/2011 05:18 pm

Lockheed Martin is still there, albiet not in the way you'd think. LM manufactures the Vertical Launch Systems in Middle River for the USN. LM sold most of the airframe and thrust reverser manufacturing capability to GE in the late 1990s, so the old Martin facility is shared by Middle River Aircraft Systems ( a GE subsidiary) and Lockheed Martin.

At the symposium somebody mentioned the thrust reverser story. Apparently GE didn't want to build that assembly (I am not sure what jets this was for--commercial or business jets?), so they sold it off to Martin (then Lockheed-Martin). Apparently Martin made money off of that program, although I don't think it was wildly profitable. So they produced them for GE engines for a long time, then eventually sold it back to GE.

catdlr · « **Reply #25 on:** 12/13/2025 01:03 am »

Project Gemini: The World's Most Dangerous Space Program