Special Sub-Topic: Mercury and Gemini - the Beginning Click Here To Play: Mercury and Gemini - the Beginning

What was the name of Scott Carpenter's space capsule?

Aurora 7. On Aurora 7, a manual malfunction caused a 250 mile overshoot from his planned landing position!

What Mercury 7 astronaut never flew a Mercury mission?

Deke Slayton. Deke was grounded for a heart problem and did not fly on Mercury or Gemini. He finally got a chance to fly in space on the Apollo-Soyuz joint mission in the seventies.

Who was on Gemini 3, the first manned Gemini mission?

Gus Grissom and John Young. John Young was also on Gemini 10 and on the first space shuttle mission in 1981, on the Columbia.

What Gemini mission was the first to rendezvous in space with the Agena target vehicle?

Gemini 8. During this mission, Armstrong and Scott had to separate from the Agena earlier than planned because a technical malfunction caused the two vehicles to spin uncontrollably.

Gus Grissom's Mercury flight made him the second American in space. How many times did he orbit the Earth?

0. Both of the first two Mercury flights (Shepard and Grissom) were suborbital, meaning they did not orbit the Earth.

Was John Glenn the first man to orbit the Earth?

n. John Glenn was the first American to orbit the earth, but the first man to orbit the earth was Yuri Gagarin.

Which two Gemini missions were launched out of order?

Gemini 6 and Gemini 7. Gemini 6's launch was delayed and so NASA launched Gemini 7 first. The two were to rendezvous in orbit.

Ed White made the first American spacewalk on Gemini 4. Who was also on Gemini 4?

Jim McDivitt. Jim McDivitt also flew Apollo. Ed White was killed in a launch pad fire on Apollo 1 during a "plugs out" test.

Gene Cernan flew on Apollo 17, and was the last man to set foot on the moon. On which Gemini mission did he fly?

Gemini 9. He flew on Gemini 9 with Tom Stafford.

Gordon Cooper, one of the Mercury 7, flew on the Faith 7, the sixth and last Mercury mission. On which Gemini mission did he fly his second space mission?

Gemini 5. He flew on Gemini 5 with Pete Conrad. Gemini 5's slogan was "8 Days or Bust", since one of the Gemini program goals was long-duration flights.