Project Gemini

The Gemini program, officially known as Project Gemini, was a human spaceflight program of NASA, conducted between projects Mercury and Apollo. The program was managed by the Manned Spacecraft Center (MSC) in Houston, Texas, and carried out from 1965 to 1966. The primary goal of the Gemini program was to develop and test space travel techniques that would be needed for Apollo, which had the objective of landing astronauts on the Moon. These techniques included the ability to change orbit, to rendezvous and dock with another vehicle, and to conduct extra-vehicular activity (EVA), or spacewalks. The program consisted of 12 flights, including two uncrewed test flights. The Gemini spacecraft was designed to support two astronauts and had a reentry module which was parachuted into the ocean after separation from the propulsion module. The name "Gemini" was chosen to highlight the fact that the spacecraft could carry two astronauts, derived from the Latin word for "twins". In Hebrew, the program is known as תוכנית ג'מיני (Tochnit Jemini). In Russian, it is referred to as Программа «Джемини» (Programma «Dzhemini»), and in French, it is called Programme Gemini.