View source for Gemini 3

{{Short description|1965 American crewed space mission}}
{{About|the American space mission in the mid-1960s|the model of double-decker bus body|Wright Eclipse Gemini 3}}
{{Use American English|date=January 2014}}
{{more citations needed|date=March 2020}}
<!--several sections without footnotes-->{{Infobox spaceflight
| name               = Gemini III
| image              = G3C spacesuit Gemini 3.jpg
| image_caption      = Astronauts John Young and Gus Grissom walk up the ramp leading to the elevator that will carry them to the spacecraft for the first crewed Gemini mission
| mission_type       = Test flight
| operator           = [[NASA]]
| COSPAR_ID          = 1965-024A
| SATCAT             = S001301
| mission_duration   = 4&nbsp;hours, 52&nbsp;minutes, 31&nbsp;seconds
| distance_travelled = {{cvt|128748|km|mi nmi}}
| orbits_completed   = 3
| spacecraft         = [[Gemini (spacecraft)|Gemini]] SC3
| manufacturer       = [[McDonnell Aircraft|McDonnell]]
| launch_mass        = {{cvt|3237|kg}}
| landing_mass       = 
| launch_date        = {{start-date|March 23, 1965, 14:24:00|timezone=yes}}&nbsp;UTC
| launch_rocket      = {{nowrap|[[Titan II GLV]],}} {{nowrap|s/n 62-12558}}
| launch_site        = [[Cape Canaveral Air Force Station|Cape Kennedy]] [[Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Launch Complex 19|LC-19]]
| landing_date       = {{end-date|March 23, 1965, 19:16:31|timezone=yes}}&nbsp;UTC
| landing_site       = {{coord|22|26|N|70|51|W|type:event|name=Gemini 3 splashdown}}
| recovery_by        = {{USS|Intrepid|CV-11|6}}
| orbit_epoch        = March 23, 1965<ref name=satcat>{{cite web|last=McDowell|first=Jonathan|title=SATCAT|url=http://planet4589.org/space/log/satcat.txt|publisher=Jonathan's Space Pages|access-date=March 27, 2014 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20031011062901/https://planet4589.org/space/log/satcat.txt| archive-date = October 11, 2003 | url-status = dead}}</ref>
| crew_size          = 2
| crew_members       = {{Unbulleted list|[[Gus Grissom|Virgil I. "Gus" Grissom]]|[[John Young (astronaut)|John W. Young]]}}
| crew_callsign      = ''Molly Brown''
| orbit_reference    = [[Geocentric orbit]]
| orbit_regime       = [[Low Earth orbit]]
| orbit_periapsis    = {{cvt|161|km|mi nmi}}
| orbit_apoapsis     = {{cvt|225|km|mi nmi}}
| orbit_inclination  = 32.6°
| orbit_period       = 88.35&nbsp;minutes
| apsis              = gee
| insignia           = Gemini3.png
| insignia_alt       = Gemini III Insignia
| insignia_caption   = Mission insignia
| crew_photo         = Astronauts Virgil I. Grissom (left) and John W. Young.jpg
| crew_photo_caption = [[Gus Grissom|Grissom]] and [[John Young (astronaut)|Young]]
| previous_mission   = [[Gemini 2]]
| next_mission       = [[Gemini 4]]
| programme          = [[Project Gemini]]
}}

'''Gemini 3''' (officially '''Gemini III''') was the first crewed mission in [[NASA]]'s [[Project Gemini]] and was the first time two American astronauts flew together into space. On March 23, 1965, astronauts [[Gus Grissom]] and [[John Young (astronaut)|John Young]] flew three [[low Earth orbit]]s in their spacecraft, which they nicknamed ''[[Molly Brown]]''. It was the first U.S. mission in which the crew fired thrusters to change the size and shape of their orbit, a key test of spacecraft maneuverability vital for planned flights to the Moon. It was also the final crewed flight controlled from [[Cape Canaveral Air Force Station|Cape Kennedy Air Force Station]] in Florida, before [[flight controller|mission control functions]] were moved to [[Christopher C. Kraft Jr. Mission Control Center|a new control center]] at the newly opened [[Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center|Manned Spacecraft Center]] in Houston, Texas.

==Crew==
{{Spaceflight crew
|terminology = Astronaut
|position1   = Command Pilot
|crew1_up    = [[Gus Grissom|Virgil I. "Gus" Grissom]]
|flights1_up = Second and last
|position2   = Pilot
|crew2_up    = [[John Young (astronaut)|John W. Young]]
|flights2_up = First
}}

===Backup crew===
{{Spaceflight crew
|terminology = Astronaut
|position1   = Command Pilot
|crew1_up    = [[Wally Schirra|Walter M. Schirra]]
|position2   = Pilot
|crew2_up    = [[Thomas P. Stafford]]
|notes=This was the prime crew on [[Gemini 6A]].}}
===Original crew===
{{Spaceflight crew
|terminology = Astronaut
|position1   = Command Pilot
|crew1_up    = [[Alan B. Shepard]]
|position2   = Pilot
|crew2_up    = [[Thomas Patten Stafford|Thomas P. Stafford]]
|notes=The crew of Gemini 3 was changed after Shepard was grounded with an inner ear disorder in late 1963.}}
===Support crew===
* [[Roger B. Chaffee]] (Houston CAPCOM)<ref name=ksc>{{cite web|url=http://science.ksc.nasa.gov/history/gemini/gemini-3/gemini-3.html|title=Gemini 3 (3)|access-date=September 20, 2016|date=August 25, 2000|website=Kennedy Space Center: Science, Technology, and Engineering|archive-date=March 4, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120304102608/http://science.ksc.nasa.gov/history/gemini/gemini-3/gemini-3.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>
* [[L. Gordon Cooper Jr.]] (Cape CAPCOM)<ref name=ksc />

==Mission parameters==
* '''[[Mass]]:''' {{cvt|3236.9|kg|lb}}
* '''[[Perigee]]:''' {{convert|161.2|km|sp=us}}
* '''[[Apogee]]:''' {{convert|224.2|km|sp=us}}
* '''[[Inclination]]:''' 32.6&nbsp;degrees
* '''[[Orbital period|Period]]:''' 88.3&nbsp;minutes

==Objectives==
[[File:Gemini water egress training - GPN-2006-000029.jpg|thumb|Young atop a Gemini spacecraft with Grissom in the water at left at the Manned Spacecraft Center during water egress training]]
The mission's primary goal was to test the new, maneuverable Gemini spacecraft. In space, the crew fired thrusters to change the shape of their orbit, shift their orbital plane slightly, and drop to a lower altitude. Other firsts were achieved on Gemini 3: two people flew aboard an American spacecraft (the Soviet Union launched a three-person crew on [[Voskhod 1]] in 1964 and a two-person crew just a few days earlier on [[Voskhod 2]], upstaging the two-person Gemini and three-person Apollo programs), and the first crewed reentry where the spacecraft was able to produce lift to change its touchdown point.

The mission also tested a system that had originally been designed for the cancelled [[Mercury-Atlas 10]] mission, in which water was injected into the plasma sheath surrounding the capsule during re-entry. This had the effect of improving communications with the ground.<ref>[https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraft/display.action?id=1965-024A NASA: Gemini 3]</ref>

==First orbital maneuver by crewed spacecraft==
On March 23, 1965, at 15:57:00 [[Coordinated Universal Time|UTC]], at the end of the first orbit, over [[Corpus Christi, Texas]], a 1-minute 14 second burn of the [[Orbit Attitude and Maneuvering System]] (OAMS) engines gave a reverse [[Delta-v|delta-V]] of {{convert|15.5|m/s|ft/s|sp=us}}, which changed the orbit from {{convert|161.2|by|224.2|km|nmi|abbr=off|sp=us}} (with a period of 88.3&nbsp;minutes), to an orbit of {{convert|158|by|169|km|nmi|sp=us}} (period of 87.8&nbsp;minutes). This was the first orbital maneuver made by any crewed spacecraft.

==Flight==
[[File:Gemini 3.jpg|thumb|Launch of the first crewed Gemini flight]]
[[File:Roger B. Chaffee at a console in the Mission Control Center, Houston, during the Gemini-Titan 3 flight.jpg|thumb|right|Astronaut [[Roger B. Chaffee]] is shown at console in the Mission Control Center, Houston, Texas during Gemini 3's flight]]

Grissom, hoping to avoid duplication of the experience with his [[Project Mercury|Mercury]] flight ''[[Liberty Bell 7]]'' in which the capsule sank after [[Splashdown (spacecraft landing)|splashdown]], came up with the nickname ''Molly Brown'', in a playful reference to the Broadway musical ''[[The Unsinkable Molly Brown (musical)|The Unsinkable Molly Brown]]''.<ref name ="Molly Brown">
{{Cite news
 | last1         = Jones
 | first1        = Clarence
 | title         = The 'Molly' Bit ... 
 | work          = [[The Miami Herald]]
 | publisher     = [[Knight Ridder]]
 | issn          = 0898-865X
 | date          = 24 March 1965
 | page          = 1
 | url           = https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-miami-herald-that-molly-bit/168744629/
 | access-date   = 24 March 2025
 | via           = Newspapers.com
}}</ref> Grissom and Young decided on Gemini 3 as the spacecraft's official name, and ''Molly Brown'' became its unofficial nickname.<ref name = "Humphrey Needled">
{{Cite news
 | last1         = Wilder
 | first1        = Paul
 | title         = Humphrey Hails Space Feat, Takes Needling From Press
 | work          = [[The Tampa Tribune]]
 | publisher     = 
 | date          = 24 March 1965
 | page          = 5A
 | url           = https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-tampa-tribune-humphrey-hails-space-f/168745408/
 | access-date   = 24 March 2025
 | via           = Newspapers.com
 }}</ref>

The only major incident during the orbital phase involved a contraband [[corned beef sandwich]] that Young had [[List of objects smuggled into space|smuggled]] on board, hiding it in a pocket of his spacesuit (though Director of Flight Crew Operations [[Deke Slayton]] wrote in his autobiography that he gave Young permission to do so). Grissom found this to be highly amusing, saying later,  "After the flight our superiors at NASA let us know in no uncertain terms that non-man-rated corned beef sandwiches were out for future space missions. But John's deadpan offer of this strictly non-regulation goodie remains one of the highlights of our flight for me."<ref name "Corned Beef">
{{Cite news
 | last1         = Grissom
 | first1        = Gus
 | last2         = Young
 | first2        = John
 | title         = Astronauts'Own Story
 | work          = [[The Miami News]]
 | publisher     = [[Cox Enterprises]]

 | date          = April 2, 1965
 | pages         = [https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-miami-news-astronauts-own-story/168746947/ 1A],4A
 | url           = https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-miami-news-our-gemini-astronauts-tel/168746836/ 
 | access-date   = 24 March 2025
|via=Newspapers.com 
}}</ref>

The crewmen each took a few bites before the sandwich was restowed. The crumbs it released could have wreaked havoc with the craft's electronics, so the crewmen were reprimanded when they returned to Earth. Other crews were warned not to pull the same type of stunt.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://history.nasa.gov/Apollo204/zorn/grissom.htm|title=NASA History: Detailed Biographies of Apollo I Crew - Gus Grissom|access-date=January 20, 2009|publisher=NASA}}</ref>

Two small failures occurred in-flight. The first was an experiment testing the synergistic effect of zero gravity on [[sea urchin]] eggs. A lever essential to the experiment broke off when pulled. The second involved the photographic coverage objective. It was only partially successful due to an improper lens setting on the 16&nbsp;mm camera.

Early in the flight, the crew noticed the craft gradually yawing left:

<blockquote>
00 18 41 (Command Pilot) I seem to have a leak. There must be a leak in one of the thrusters, because I get a continuous yaw left.

00 18 53 (CapCom) Roger. Understand that you get a continuous yaw left.

00 18 57 (Command Pilot) Very slight. Very slow drift.<ref name="transcript">{{cite web |url=http://gemini3.spacelog.org/00:00:18:41/00:00:18:57/#log-line-1121 |title=Gemini III radio transcript on Spacelog |publisher=National Astronaut and Space Administration |date=April 1965 |access-date=2011-05-01 |archive-date=2014-10-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141026181226/http://gemini3.spacelog.org/00:00:18:41/00:00:18:57/#log-line-1121 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
</blockquote>

First attributed to a stuck thruster, the problem was traced to a venting water boiler.<ref>French, Francis and Burgess, Colin. "In the Shadow of the Moon". University of Nebraska Press, 2007, p. 11.</ref>

The crewmen made their first [[orbit]] change an hour and a half into the flight. The burn lasted 75 seconds and moved them from a {{convert|122|by|175|km|nmi|adj=on|sp=us|abbr=off}} orbit to a nearly circular one with a drop in speed of {{cvt|15|m/s|ft/s}}. The second burn, changing the orbital inclination by 0.02&nbsp;degrees, was made 45&nbsp;minutes later. The last burn, during the third orbit, lowered the perigee to {{cvt|72|km|nmi}}. This was made so, in case the retrorockets had failed, the spacecraft would still have reentered the atmosphere. The experience of reentry initially matched expectations, with even the color and pattern of the plasma sheath that enveloped the capsule matching those produced for ground simulations. However, it soon became clear that ''Molly Brown'' was off course and would land {{cvt|69|km|nmi}} off target. Though [[wind tunnel]] studies had suggested the spacecraft could maneuver to make up for the discrepancy, Gemini's real lift was far less than predicted, and Grissom was unable to significantly adjust course. ''Molly Brown'' ultimately landed {{cvt|84|km|nmi}} short of its intended [[splashdown (spacecraft landing)|splashdown]] point.<ref name=titans>{{cite book |last1=Hacker|first1=Barton|last2=Grimwood|first2=James|date=1966 |title=On the Shoulders of Titans |location=Washington D.C. |publisher=NASA |page=236 }}</ref>

This was not the only unexpected event of the short descent: After its [[parachute]]s were deployed, the spacecraft shifted from a vertical to horizontal attitude. The change was so sudden that Grissom cracked his faceplate (made of [[Poly(methyl methacrylate)|acrylic]]) on the control panel in front of him.  Later Gemini spacesuits and all Apollo and Space Shuttle (both launch-entry and EVA suits) used [[polycarbonate]] plastic.

[[File:HH-52A USCG over Gemini 3 capsule 1965.jpeg|thumb|A U.S. Coast Guard HH-52A over the Gemini 3 capsule.]]

Upon landing, the astronauts decided to stay in the capsule, not wanting to open the hatch before the arrival of the recovery ship. The crew spent an uncomfortable half-hour in a spacecraft not designed to be a boat. Due to unexpected smoke from the thrusters, the astronauts decided to deviate from the post landing checklist and to keep their helmets on with the face plates closed for some time after splashdown.<ref name="transcript" /> {{USS|Intrepid|CV-11|6}} recovered the craft and crew.<ref name = "Splashdown">
{{Cite news
 | last1        = Lyons
 | first1       = Richard
 | title        = 2 Gemini Firsters Touch All Bases

 | work         = [[New York Daily News | Daily News]]
 | publisher    = News Syndicate Co. Inc.
 | location     = New York
 | date         = March 24, 1965
 | page         = 3
 | url          = https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-news-2-gemini-firsters-touch-all-b/168619813/

 | access-date  = March 22, 2025
 | via          = [[Newspapers.com]]
}}</ref> The ''Gemini III'' mission was supported by 10,185 personnel, 126 aircraft and 27 ships from the [[United States Department of Defense]].

==Insignia==
[[File:Gemini 3 Flown Silver Fliteline Medallion.jpg|thumb|Gemini 3 space-flown silver [[NASA space-flown Robbins medallions of the Apollo missions#Gemini mission space-flown Fliteline medallions|Fliteline Medallion]]]]
The mission insignia was not worn by the flight crew as a patch, like those from Gemini 5 onwards. The Gemini 3 ''The Molly Brown'' emblem was designed and minted on gold-plated, sterling silver, {{convert|1|in|mm|adj=on}} medallions. The crew carried a number of these medallions into space to give to their families and friends. The same design was printed on the cover of Grissom's book ''Gemini!: A Personal Account of Man's Venture Into Space''. Young was seen wearing the emblem as a patch, produced post-flight, on his flightsuit as late as 2002.

==Spacecraft location==
The spacecraft is on display within the Grissom Memorial of [[Spring Mill State Park]], two miles east of Grissom's hometown of [[Mitchell, Indiana]].

==See also==
{{Portal|Spaceflight}}
* [[Space exploration]]
* [[Splashdown]]
* [[U.S. space exploration history on U.S. stamps]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}
{{Include-NASA}}
* {{Cite book  
   | last1        = Hacker
   | first1       = Barton C.
   | last2        = Grimwood
   | first2       = James M.
   | title        = On The Shoulders of Titans: A History of Project Gemini
   | publisher    = National Aeronautics and Space Administration
   | series       = The NASA Historical Series
   | id           = NASA SP-4203
   | location     = Washington, D.C.
   | year         = 1977
   | url          = http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/SP-4203/cover.htm
   | archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20031207111557/http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/SP-4203/cover.htm
   | archive-date = December 7, 2003
   | url-status   = dead
}}
* {{Cite web
   | last1        = Garrett
   | first1       = Russ
   | last2        = Ogle
   | first2       = Matthew
   | title        = Gemini III radio transcripts 
   | work         = Spacelog
   | year         = 2011
   | url          = http://gemini3.spacelog.org/
   | access-date  = March 27, 2025
   | archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20110505174210/http://gemini3.spacelog.org/ 
   | archive-date = May 5, 2011 
   | url-status   = dead
}}
* {{cite press release
|author       = NASA PAO
|id           = Release No.: 65-81
|date         = March 17, 1965
|title        = NASA Gemini 3 Press Kit
|url          = https://mira.hq.nasa.gov/history/ws/hdmshrc/all/main/DDD/39983.pdf 
|location     = Washington, D.C.
|publisher    = National Aeronautics and Space Admininstration
|url-status   = dead
|archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20090621231250/https://mira.hq.nasa.gov/history/ws/hdmshrc/all/main/DDD/39983.pdf 
|archive-date = June 21, 2009
|access-date  = March 27, 2025
|quote        =

}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Gemini 3}}
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m2YLeEjWUIs&list=PLZ4LzWgVGYi0n0VGYv-zBX9Ou3S3kphQb&index=4 "GEMINI 3 Launch to Staging"] on YouTube
* [http://www.genedorr.com/patches/Intro.html Spaceflight Mission Patches]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20060501114220/http://www.johnwyoung.com/ Astronaut John W. Young tribute website]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20160313090204/http://www.americanspacecraft.com/pages/gemini/gt-3.html Gemini 3 at A Field Guide To American Spacecraft]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20100324191944/http://www.life.com/image/first/in-gallery/40312/the-space-race-gemini-3  slideshow]   by ''[[Life magazine]]''

{{Gemini program}}
{{NASA space program}}
{{Orbital launches in 1965}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gemini 03}}
[[Category:Spacecraft launched in 1965]]
[[Category:1965 in the United States]]
[[Category:Project Gemini missions]]
[[Category:Human spaceflights]]
[[Category:Spacecraft launched by Titan rockets]]
[[Category:Spacecraft which reentered in 1965]]
[[Category:March 1965]]
[[Category:John Young (astronaut)]]
[[Category:Gus Grissom]]
[[Category:Successful space missions]]