Gemini 2

Gemini 2
The atmospheric re-entry of Gemini 2 viewed through a pilot's window
Mission typeTest flight
OperatorNASA[1]
Mission duration18 minutes, 16 seconds
Range3,422.4 kilometers (1,847.9 nmi)
Apogee171.1 kilometers (92.4 nmi)
Spacecraft properties
SpacecraftGemini SC2
ManufacturerMcDonnell
Start of mission
Launch dateJanuary 19, 1965, 14:03:59.861 (1965-01-19UTC14:03:59Z) UTC
RocketTitan II GLV, s/n 62-12557
Launch siteCape Kennedy LC-19
End of mission
Recovered byUSS Lake Champlain
Landing dateJanuary 19, 1965, 14:22:14 (1965-01-19UTC14:22:15Z) UTC
Landing site16°36′N 49°46′W / 16.600°N 49.767°W / 16.600; -49.767

Gemini 2 (Gemini-Titan 2; GT-2)[2] was the second spaceflight of the American human spaceflight program Project Gemini, and was launched and recovered on January 19, 1965. Gemini 2, like Gemini 1, was an uncrewed mission intended as a test flight of the Gemini spacecraft. Unlike Gemini 1, which was placed into orbit, Gemini 2 made a suborbital flight, primarily intended to test the spacecraft's heat shield. It was launched on a Titan II GLV rocket. The spacecraft used for the Gemini 2 mission was later refurbished into the Gemini B configuration, and was subsequently launched on another suborbital flight, along with OPS 0855, as a test for the US Air Force Manned Orbital Laboratory. Gemini spacecraft no. 2 was the first craft to make more than one spaceflight since the X-15, and the only one until Space Shuttle Columbia flew its second mission in 1981; it would also be the only space capsule to be reused until Crew Dragon Endeavour was launched a second time in 2021.

  1. ^ Hacker, Barton C.; Grimwood, James M. (February 2003) [First published 1977]. "Table of Contents". On the Shoulders of Titans: A History of Project Gemini. NASA History Series. Washington, D.C.: NASA. NASA SP-4203. Archived from the original on January 13, 2010. Retrieved September 12, 2013.
  2. ^ "Gemini 2". NASA Space Science Data Coordinated Archive (NSSDCA). NASA. 2017. GEMINI2.