Gemini Capsule With Titan II Booster & Agena

Gemini 8 was to be the mission of many firsts. It was the first mission that Neil Armstrong flew (but certainly not to be the last!) The first docking between two objects in space, and the first emergency re-entry of a spacecraft.

When Gemini 8 docked, everything seemed normal. The mission was going smoothly and an EVA was planned to take place later.

However, the Gemini and Agena began spinning wildly out of control. Armstrong, thinking that it was a problem with the Agena's thrusters immediately undocked. However, the Gemini was the real problem.

Not attached to the Agena anymore the Gemini capsule began spinning even faster, they needed to act fast.

Armstrong immediately shut off all primary thruster systems, and the spinning stopped. He was able to use the re-entry thrusters to right himself.

The Gemini capsule was then forced to make an emergency splashdown.

Thanks to Armstrong's quick thinking, the crew escaped from a situation that would've proved fatal.

But that certainly wasn't the last time that Armstrong would save a mission from disaster.

Gemini 6 was originally scheduled to launch on October 2nd, 1965, and be the first mission to dock with the Agena vehicle, however, shortly after launch the Agena exploded. This was a disaster. Another Agena would not be ready soon enough, however, mission planners at NASA improvised and instead changed the mission objective so that Gemini 6 would dock with Gemini 7 during her 14-day mission.

The new Gemini mission was called Gemini 6A, and the collective mission objective was dubbed "Gemini 7/6"

In his book "Failure Is Not An Option" Gene Kranz describes this mission in detail.

The two spacecraft finally came close to each other in orbit, the first rendezvous between spacecraft. The get close enough to photograph the other astronauts through the windows.

On the ground, Mission Control was waving American flags to mark this historic occasion. No wonder Kranz refers to this as "The Spirit Of 76"

The Gemini 5 mission was an attempt to see how long-term space flight effected humans. with its famous motto "Eight Days Or Bust!"

It also was the first American spaceflight to break the record for duration in space. Breaking the Soviet Union's previous record it set with Vostok 5.

Gemini 4, the second manned Gemini fight lasting 5 days, is probably most notable for having the first American space walk. Performed by Ed White and lasting 20 minutes, it would be the first of many for the Gemini program.

The Gemini 3 mission is notable for a number of things, It was the first manned flight of the Gemini program, it was the first time an astronaut (Gus Grissom) had gone to space twice, and it was also the last spacecraft (until Apollo 9) that was given its own nickname ("The Unsinkable Molly Brown" named after the famous Titanic survivor, fitting given that Gus' last Capsule, the Liberty Bell 7, sunk after touchdown when the hatch blew).

But most interesting about this short mission consisting of only a few orbits was the "corned beef sandwich" fiasco.

As a sort of joke, fellow astronaut Walter Schirra snuck John Young a corned beef sandwich before flight to eat in orbit.

This caused panic among flight controllers and flight surgeons, saying that crumbs from the sandwich could've interfered with the systems, newspapers went as far as saying that it almost "doomed the spacecraft" but their fears never came true, and the mission was a success. And now the famous "Corned Beef Sandwich" story has become legendary.