All Gemini spacecraft were launched by Titan II rockets, modified from Titan II intercontinental ballistic missiles. The first two Gemini missions were unmanned tests, making Gemini 3 the first manned launch. Aboard were Gus Grissom and John Young.

S65-18737_G03-H Mexico (Tamaulipas-Nuevo Leon); Texas, Gulf of Mexico, Falcon Lake looking SE This is the first picture taken by an astronaut as part of the Gemini program. The name of the Gemini III capsule was “Molly Brown," a joke that Grissom made in reference to his Liberty Bell capsule (which sank). NASA didn’t like the idea, but relented when Grissom proposed “Titanic" instead. After Gemini III, astronauts were no longer allowed to name their craft.

S65-18743_G03-H Mexico, (Sonora-Baja California) in fore, California-Arizona in back The objective of Gemini III was to test out the capabilities of the new Gemini capsule. Gemini III performed the first orbital maneuvers by a manned spacecraft, altering their orbit several times.

S65-18752_G03-H Clouds over Malagasy Republic Gemini III was mostly uneventful, except for a contraband corned beef sandwich that Young had snuck on board the night before launch. NASA wasn’t happy about this, since stray crumbs could have shorted out electronics in the capsule. Grissom thought it was hilarious, though: "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."

GT4-37149-013_G04-U Gemini IV was to be a much longer mission than Gemini III, clocking in at four days in space as opposed to just four hours. James McDivitt and Ed White (in this picture) would attempt the first space rendezvous (with the spent second stage of their launch vehicle) as well as the first American spacewalk.

GT4-37199-002_G04-U The rendezvous ended up as a failure, largely because nobody had ever tried to do it before. The astronauts found that if they pointed in the direction that they wanted to go and fired their thrusters, it would change their orbit, and they’d end up going in the opposite direction. After expending half their fuel, they decided to abort the attempt and move on to the EVA (extra-vehicular activity).

S65-30431_G04-H Astronaut White floats in zero gravity of space northeast of Hawaii. White is attached to the spacecraft by a 25-ft. umbilical line and a 23-ft. tether line, both wrapped in gold tape to form one cord. In his right hand White carries a Hand-Held Self-Maneuvering Unit (HHSMU). The visor of his helmet is gold plated to protect him from the unfiltered rays of the sun. Ed White exited Gemini IV just over Hawaii after having some issues getting the door open. There was no airlock on Gemini; both White and McDivitt wore pressure suits and the entire cabin was open to space while White was outside.

S65-34634_G04-H Astronaut White floats in zero gravity of space off the coast of California. Between his umbilical cord and maneuvering unit, White was able to float all the way around the spacecraft while both he and McDivitt snapped pictures. This image shows White down by Gemini IV’s nose, which is probably where he took the picture before the previous one in our gallery.

S65-30432_G04-H Astronaut White floats in zero gravity of space over Gulf of Mexico. Understandably, Ed White was having a blast floating around out in space. But Gemini IV was approaching the night side of Earth, and flight controllers wanted White back in the spacecraft before that happened. White stalled for a bit by taking more pictures, and when he finally returned to the capsule after 20 minutes in space, he said “it’s the saddest moment of my life."

S65-34641_G04-H Dark close-up view of Astronaut White as he floats in zero gravity of space over Texas coast. White managed to get back in the capsule, but the door was just as stubborn to close as it was to open. Had the door not latched, it would have meant that both astronauts would have died on reentry for sure, but McDivitt was able to jiggle a spring to get the thing to latch properly. White was supposed to toss out all of his EVA gear, but that would have involved opening the door again, so it all came back to Earth instead.

S65-45675_G05-H Clouds off coast of Baja California, Isla Cedros The goal of Gemini V was to spend long enough in space to simulate the amount of time it would take to get to the moon, land on its surface, wander around for a bit and then make it back to Earth. Eight days in space was the target length.

S65-45635_G05-H Inside Spacecraft Command Pilot Pete Conrad (pictured asleep) took to calling the mission “eight days in a garbage can." He wasn’t referring to the smell, but rather the size of the Gemini capsule, which was the equivalent of the front of a Volkswagen Beetle. The astronauts started to get bored in orbit, and Conrad ended up wishing he’d brought along a book or something.

S65-45610_G05-H Inside Gemini V Since NASA had stopped allowing the astronauts to name their spacecraft, they let Gordon Cooper (pictured) design a patch instead. He came up with a picture of a covered wagon with the slogan “8 Days or Bust" on it, but NASA didn’t like the expectation that the patch created, so they sewed a piece of cloth over the slogan before launch.

S65-45753_G05-H Florida, Cape Kennedy looking South One of the experiments that the astronauts conducted over their 120 orbits was “ground photography." They took hundreds of pictures, and this one and the images that follow are a few of our favorites.

S65-45778_G05-H Egypt, Cairo, Nile Delta

S65-45760_G05-H Great Bahama Bank, Tongue of the Ocean, Great Exuma, Cat, and Long Islands

S65-63788_G07-H Sunset [as seen in space], note cloud layers in red Originally, Gemini VI was supposed to perform rendezvous maneuvers with an unmanned target vehicle, but as the astronauts were waiting on the launch pad for liftoff, the target vehicle blew up over the Atlantic and the mission was scrubbed. Instead, Gemini VII launched first, and Gemini VI (renamed Gemini VI-A) followed 11 days later to perform a dual manned rendezvous. Gemini VII (with Jim Lovell and Frank Borman aboard) had a week and a half to kill in space before Gemini VI-A came up to meet them.

S65-63796_G07-H Polaris, underwater launch, missile and trail, off Florida On orbit 31, the Gemini VII astronauts managed to spot a Polaris ballistic missile that had been launched from underwater by a nuclear-powered submarine off the coast of Florida.

S65-63873_G07-H Moon, clouds over Western Pacific With a total of 14 days in space, Gemini VII would hold the record for long-duration spaceflight for the next five years. NASA wanted to see what would happen when astronauts spent an extended amount of time in space as preparation for the Apollo missions to the moon.

S65-63108_G06-H Rendezvous GT-VII 160* Side view After a near-disaster on the launch pad followed by a three-day delay, Gemini VI-A finally made its rendezvous with Gemini VII on December 15th.

S65-63184_G06-H Rendezvous GT-VII 150* Oblique view, adapter toward camera Gemini VI had plenty of fuel to spare, so they spent several hours practicing flying circles around Gemini VII.

S65-63194_G06-H Rendezvous GT-VII 35* Side view, part of adapter hidden by nose of GT-VI The two spacecraft got within about a foot of each other, and had their thruster control so perfect that at one point, they didn’t have to make any adjustment burns for 20 minutes straight.

S65-64039_G07-H Rendezvous GT-VI Nose view If you look closely, you can see a “BEAT ARMY" sign in the window of the Gemini VI capsule. Both astronauts in Gemini VI were Naval Academy grads, as was Jim Lovell, but Frank Borman was the Army Football Manager at the United States Military Academy.

S65-64046_G07-H Rendezvous GT-VI Nose view 35 ft Before going to sleep, Tom Stafford and Wally Schirra contacted Gemini VII with this report: “Gemini Seven, this is Gemini Six. We have an object, looks like a satellite going from north to south, probably in polar orbit… I see a command module and eight smaller modules in front. The pilot of the command module is wearing a red suit." Gemini VI then started playing “Jingle Bells" on a harmonica. This was probably the first musical instrument played in space, and it’s currently on display in the Smithsonian.

S65-63201_G06-H Rendezvous GT-VII 65* Sun in lens, ruins picture quality, side view Gemini VI returned to Earth the next day. Meanwhile, the crew of Gemini VII still had three more days in space without much to do besides drift around the planet, read books (Borman read Roughing It by Mark Twain and Lovell had Drums along the Mohawk by Walter D. Edmonds), and take even more pictures.

S65-65241_G07-H Lightning in clouds, F=5.5 at 1/25 second

S65-63129_G06-H Urine drops in sunlight Apollo astronaut Rusty Schweickart said at one point that “the most beautiful sight in orbit is a urine dump at sunset, because as the stuff comes out and as it hits the exit nozzle it instantly flashes into ten million little ice crystals which go out almost in a hemisphere. It's really a spectacular sight."

S65-65249_G07-H Sunrise Sequence, 250MM lens, time exposure up to 8 seconds Gemini VII splashed down on December 18th, and despite a little bit of weakness, both Lovell and Borman had survived two weeks in a tiny capsule in space in excellent health, besides joking that after spending so much time together they should probably be married. These first Gemini missions had shown that it was possible to survive in space for extended periods and rendezvous with other spacecraft in orbit, and the next missions would practice docking, extended EVAs in preparation for Apollo and the moon.