Project Gemini
Essays

Among other things, the 1960's will probably be remembered most prominently for its culmination in the moon landing, successfully achieved by the United States of America. Often hidden from public view is the political…

Throughout history, the idea of modern space travel has captured the human imagination. This began when early astronomers first started looking up at the sky and wondered about the universe. By the 1950s, these ideas became more realistic with development of rockets. This set the stage for a space race between the United States and the Soviet Union. At the heart of these objectives, was to see which nation would be the first to walk on the moon. The Gemini project was critical in helping America to reach these goals. This is despite the short term costs increases from $161 million to $242.70 million. What was learned during this process set the stage for the US to go to the moon and beyond. Moreover, many of the breakthroughs helped to advance scientific understanding of the universe and the world. These ideas are still being utilized as a foundation for various disciplines to this very day.

NASA reports that the second manned space program was named Gemini and was announced in January 1962. The project was named Gemini for the third constellation of the Zodiac with its twin stars Castor and Pollux. The Gemini project was inclusive of 12 flights, two of them unmanned and was a project with clear objectives including those as follows: (1) subjecting man and equipment to space flight up to two weeks in duration; (2) to conduct a rendezvous and dock with orbiting vehicles and to maneuver the docked combination by using the propulsion system of the target vehicle; (3) to perfect methods of atmosphere entrance and landing at a specific point on land. The goals of this project were met except for the goal of landing on land, which was cancelled in 1964.

When the Soviets successfully launched Sputnik I, the first ever artificial satellite, in orbit on October 4, 1957, the event took the Americans and the entire western world by surprise.