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| 1965 GT-3 launch cover with Orbit Covers cachet signed by the crew, Gus Grissom and John Young. The crew flew three low Earth orbits in their Gemini spacecraft, which they named Molly Brown. This cover previously owned by Reuben Ramkissoon. - RegencyStamps |
Gemini 3 (GT-3), launched on March 23, 1965, was the first Gemini manned flight crewed by Virgil "Gus" Grissom and John Young. It was also the final manned flight controlled from Cape Canaveral. The mission's primary goal was to test the new, maneuverable Gemini spacecraft. Although Gemini 3 was the first U.S. 2-crew manned spaceflight, it was not the first in the world; the Soviet sent a 3-crew team into space on Voskhod 1 mission in late 1964.
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| Photo: Gemini 3 prime crew, Gus Grissom and John Young, and backup crew, Walter Schirra and Thomas Stafford. |
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| NASA announced the prime and backup crew of the first Gemini flight on April 13, 1964. |
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| Photo: John Young and Gus Grissom inspect the booster of the Gemini-Titan rocket on October 29, 1964. |
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Photo: Gemini 3 crew, John Young and Gus Grissom, studying weather charts on the day before the launch.
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| Gemini 3 launch (Centennial cover) postmarked at Cape Canaveral on March 23, 1965. |
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Photo: Gus Grissom at breakfast before his GT-3 orbital flight on March 23, 1965.
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Photo: Gemini 3 crew preparing for the launch, March 23, 1965.
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| Photo: Launch of the first manned Gemini space flight on March 23, 1965. |
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| Photo: US President Johnson watching the launch of the Gemini space flight. |
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| Gemini 3 primary goal was to test the new, maneuverable spacecraft. At the end of the first orbit, over Corpus Christi, Texas, Grissom effected the first orbital maneuver (made by any manned spacecraft), which lowered the orbit to near-circular (158 x 169 km). |
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| Photo: A picture of Bermuda, taken by John Young during the Gemini 3 spaceflight. |
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| Photo: John Young took this photo when the Gemini 3 spacecraft was orbiting over Mexico. |
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Photo: Gemini 3 capsule (nicknamed "Molly Brown") splashdown north of Grand Turk Island.
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| Gemini 3 USS Intrepid recovery ship cover with Beck rubber stamped cachet, signed by the ship's Captain J. G. Smith. |
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| Photo: "Molly Brown" hoisted from the ocean to the recovery ship USS Intrepid. |
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| Photo: The Gemini 3 capsule brought aboard USS Intrepid by the ship's crew. |
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| A rare Gemini 3 USS Intrepid recovery ship hand cancel on cover. |
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| Photo: "ABOARD THE USS INTREPID : Astronaut Virgil Grissom uses a saber to cut man-sized chunk from the end of a cake 3/24 to the amusement of Rear Admiral Donald M. White, commander of the recovery forces that picked up the astronauts and their capsule after splashdown in the Atlantic 3/23. NASA via UPI TELEPHOTO, March 25, 1965". |
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| A rare Gemini 3 USS Intrepid Beck CREW Cover, only 25 covers without the "B" number printed exist. |
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| Photo: The Gemini 3 crew, Gus Grissom and John Young, at the White House with US President Johnson, March 26, 1965. |
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| Photo: John Young and Gus Grissom received the United Nations "Peaceful Uses of Outer Space" stamps autographed by U.N Secretary General U Thant on March 29, 1965. |
(Reference from
Gemini 3)
