Transcript for Gemini Retrospective

When discussing man's space missions,

the two American programs that are the most

talked about are the Mercury and Apollo programs.

One program that does not get as much attention

but which was instrumental in getting man to the moon

was project Gemini.

The Gemini missions flew between

the Mercury and Apollo programs.

And allowed astronauts and planners to

practise many of the procedures that will be important for future Moon flights,

paving the way for man

to walk on the Moon.

Early in January of 1962

Project Gemini began.

Because of the large time frame

between project Mercury and the Apollo flights

it became clear to NASA officials

that more training in space black was necessary

to get men to the Moon and back safely.

Unlike the Mercury capsule

which could only hold one astronaut,

the ... main Gemini capsule

could hold two astronauts

and could be manouvered in space by the crew.

The ability to manouver in space

allowed astronauts to train when face down

or while docking.

Learning these procedures will be critical

to successfully return from the lunar surface

and docking with the command module in lunar orbit.