Gemini 2 (Spacecraft)

Gemini 2 was an unmanned flight in the U.S. Gemini program. Gemini 2 was launched on a Titan II rocket. The flight was a suborbital test of various systems. It later became the first spacecraft flown into space twice when it was sent on an unmanned military mission Gemini 2 lifted off from Launch Complex 19 at Cape Kennedy on January 19, 1965 at 9:03:59 a.m. EST (14:03:59.861 UT). It flew a ballistic suboribtal arch over the Atlantic Ocean reaching a maximum altitude of 171.2 km. The spacecraft was run by an onboard automatic sequencer. At 6 minutes 54 seconds after launch retrorockets were fired. The spacecraft landed 3,422.4 km downrange from Cape Kennedy, Florida. The flight lasted 18 minutes 16 seconds. The landing was 26 km short of the planned impact point, and 84 km from the recovery aircraft carrier, the U.S.S. Lake Champlain. The spacecraft was brought aboard the carrier at 15:52 UT (10:52 a.m. EST). Most goals were achieved except, the fuel cells had failed before liftoff and were turned off. The spacecraft cooling system temperature also was found to be too high. The Gemini 2 was in excellent condition. Its heat shield and retrorockets functioned as expected. The Gemini 2 mission was supported by the following U.S. Department of Defense resources; 6,562 personnel, 67 aircraft and 16 ships. The Gemini 2 reentry module was refurbished and flown again on November 3, 1966 in a test flight for the U.S. Air Force Manned Orbiting Laboratory program. It was launched on a Titan IIIC rocket on 33-minute suborbital flight from LC-40 at Cape Canaveral, Florida.