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Project Gemini was NASA's second human spaceflight program. It was a United States space program started in 1961 and concluded in 1966. Project Gemini was conducted between projects Mercury and Apollo. The Gemini spacecraft carried a two-astronaut crew. Ten crews flew low Earth orbit (LEO) missions between 1965 and 1966. It put the United States in the lead during the Cold War Space Race with the Soviet Union. Its objective was to develop space travel techniques to support Apollo's mission to land astronauts on the Moon. Gemini achieved missions long enough for a trip to the Moon and back, perfected working outside the spacecraft with extra-vehicular activity (EVA), and pioneered the orbital maneuvers necessary to achieve space rendezvous and docking. With these new techniques proven in Gemini, Apollo could pursue its prime mission without doing these fundamental exploratory operations. All Gemini flights were launched from Launch Complex 19 (LC-19) at Cape Kennedy Air Force Station in Florida. Its launch vehicle was the Gemini–Titan II, a modified Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM).〔The only Gemini spacecraft not on a Titan II was the re-flight of Gemini 2 for a Manned Orbiting Laboratory test in 1966, which used a Titan IIIC〕 Gemini was the first program to use the newly built Mission Control Center at the Houston Manned Spacecraft Center for flight control.〔Gemini 3 used the Mercury Control Center located at Cape Kennedy for flight control, as the new center was still in a test status. Gemini 4 was the first to be guided from Houston, with Mercury Control as a backup. From Gemini 5 until today, all flights are controlled from Houston.〕 The astronaut corps that supported Project Gemini included the "Mercury Seven", "The New Nine", and the 1963 astronaut class. During the program, three astronauts died in air crashes during training, including the prime crew for Gemini 9. This mission was performed by the backup crew, the only time that has happened in NASA's history. Gemini was robust enough that the United States Air Force planned to use it for the Manned Orbital Laboratory (MOL) program, which was later canceled. Gemini's chief designer, Jim Chamberlin, also made detailed plans for cislunar and lunar landing missions in late 1961. He believed Gemini could perform lunar operations before Project Apollo, and cost less. NASA's administration did not approve those plans. In 1969, McDonnell-Douglas proposed a "Big Gemini" that could have been used to shuttle up to 12 astronauts to the planned space stations in the Apollo Applications Project (AAP). The only AAP project funded was Skylab – which used existing spacecraft and hardware – thereby eliminating the need for Big Gemini. ==Program origins & objectives== After the existing Apollo program was chartered by President John F. Kennedy on May 25, 1961 to land men on the Moon, it became evident to NASA officials that a follow-on to the Mercury program was required to develop certain spaceflight capabilities in support of Apollo. Specifically, Jim Chamberlin, the head of engineering at the Space Task Group (STG), was already assigned to start working on a bridge program between Mercury and Apollo in February 1961. He presented two initial versions of Gemini at a NASA retreat at Wallops Island in March 1961. Scale models of Mercury Mark II were shown in July 1961 at McDonnell Aircraft Corporation's offices in St. Louis. NASA approved Project Gemini on December 7, 1961. The McDonnell corporation was contracted to build it on December 22, 1961. When it was publicly announced on January 3, 1962, it was formally re-christened ''Project Gemini''. ''Gemini'' in Latin means "twins" or "double" which reflected that the spacecraft would hold two astronauts. Gemini is also the name of the third constellation of the Zodiac and its twin stars, Castor and Pollux. The major objectives were: * To demonstrate endurance of humans and equipment to spaceflight for extended periods, at least eight days required for a Moon landing, to a maximum of two weeks * To effect rendezvous and docking with another vehicle, and to maneuver the combined spacecraft using the propulsion system of the target vehicle * To demonstrate Extra-Vehicular Activity (EVA), or space-"walks" outside the protection of the spacecraft, and to evaluate the astronauts' ability to perform tasks there * To perfect techniques of atmospheric reentry and touchdown at a pre-selected location on land〔The requirement for a touchdown on land using a paraglider was canceled in 1964.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Project Gemini」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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