Gemini 1

Mission objective:

• The purpose of the Gemini program was to develop the technology and techniques needed to fulfill President Kennedy′s goal of landing a man on the Moon by 1970. While the Mercury program provided important information on how to get a single human into space, survive for periods of several hours while performing simple tasks and return safely home, the Mercury spacecraft was simply too small and its capabilities too limited to prepare us for the Moon.
• NASA planners recognized this and on December 7, 1962 announced the Mercury Mk II program which was renamed Gemini on January 3, 1963. The major objectives of the program were:
  • Demonstrate that humans and their equipment can survive up to two weeks in space
  • Demonstrate rendezvous and docking techniques in orbit
  • Demonstrate the technology and techniques needed to perform EVAs (Extra-Vehicular Activities)
• Demonstrate GLV performance; flight qualify subsystems, Determine exit heating of GLV and spacecraft. Demonstrate structural integrity of GLV and spacecraft; Demonstrate GLV and ground guidance systems performance in achieving proper orbital insertion; Monitor, evaluate GLV switchover circuits.
• Secondary Objectives included: Evaluate operational procedures for GLV trajectory and cutoff conditions; Verify orbital insertion by tracking C-band transponder in spacecraft; Demonstrate performance of launch and tracking networks; Provide training for flight controllers and prelaunch and launch crews and facilities.
• Many modifications were needed to man-rate the two-stage Titan II as well as smooth out its performance to safely carry men into orbit. In fact one of the main objectives of this first unmanned Gemini test flight was to verify the performance of the Titan II GLV in addition to testing the structural integrity of the Gemini spacecraft as well as providing training for the ground support and tracking crews. The mission of Gemini 1 was simply to get into orbit and provide three orbits′ worth of information on spacecraft performance. No life support system was carried and in place of the astronauts were a pair of instrument pallets. The Gemini 1 spacecraft would never separate from the second stage of the Titan II once in orbit and no recovery was planned. In fact four large holes were purposely drilled into the reentry module′s ablative heat shield so that it would burn up with the rest of the spacecraft when its orbit naturally decayed three and a half days after launch.

Mission details:

• The 3,187-kilogram Spacecraft 1 arrived at Cape Canaveral on October 4, 1963 and was mated to the GLV-1 launch vehicle, Titan II Serial No. 62-12556, on March 5, 1964. Gemini 1 lifted off from Launch Complex 19 on April 8, 1964 at 11:00 EST. The Gemini 1 spacecraft and its spent Titan II second stage, with a total in-orbit mass of about 5,200 kg, was successfully placed into 160.3 by 320.3 kilometer orbit – slightly higher than planned. All mission objectives were met after 4 hours 50 minutes in orbit. Tracking of Gemini 1 continued until its orbit decayed four days later over the South Atlantic where the vehicle was destroyed.
  
  

  Gemini 1 cabine equipment

  Successful orbital test of the Titan-II launch vehicle, spacecraft structural integrity and launch vehicle spacecraft compatibility. Unmanned, no plan to recover. All primary and secondary objectives achieved.

Astrophilately covers:

Manuel launch cancel Cape Canaveral