Gemini SC-2 (Spacecraft No. 2) was the second NASA Project Gemini full-up reentry capsule built. This

McDonnell The McDonnell Aircraft Corporation was an American aerospace manufacturer based in St. Louis, Missouri. The company was founded on July 6, 1939, by James Smith McDonnell, and was best known for its military fighters, including the F-4 Phantom I ...

Gemini capsule was the first

space capsule A space capsule is an often-crewed spacecraft that uses a blunt-body reentry capsule to reenter the Earth's atmosphere without wings. Capsules are distinguished from other satellites primarily by the ability to survive reentry and return a payl ...

to be reused, flying twice in suborbital flights. SC-2 flew on Gemini 2 and

OPS 0855 OPS 0855, also designated OV4-3, was an American boilerplate Manned Orbiting Laboratory spacecraft launched in 1966. It was flown to demonstrate the launch configuration for future MOL missions. A number of research payloads, designated Manifold ...

flights. The capsule is currently on display at the Air Force Space and Missile Museum at

Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Cape Canaveral Space Force Station (CCSFS) is an installation of the United States Space Force's Space Launch Delta 45, located on Cape Canaveral in Brevard County, Florida. Headquartered at the nearby Patrick Space Force Base, the statio ...

Spacecraft history

The capsule is part of the collection of the National Air and Space Museum of the

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...

. On 19 January 1965, the Gemini 2 suborbital test mission was launched, with the second prototype Gemini capsule. In March 1965, NASA approved the transfer of the Gemini 2 capsule to the USAF for modification into the first prototype of the Gemini B capsule. On 3 November 1965, the first

Manned Orbiting Laboratory The Manned Orbiting Laboratory (MOL) was part of the United States Air Force (USAF) human spaceflight program in the 1960s. The project was developed from early USAF concepts of crewed space stations as reconnaissance satellites, and was a s ...

(MOL) and Gemini B suborbital test mission was launched. Thus, if one doesn't count the Mercury capsule used on flights Mercury-Redstone 1 and

Mercury-Redstone 1A Mercury- Redstone 1A (MR-1A) was launched on December 19, 1960 from LC-5 at Cape Canaveral, Florida. The mission objectives of this uncrewed suborbital flight were to qualify the spacecraft for space flight and qualify the system for an upcoming ...

, the Mercury capsule used on test flights Little Joe 5A and Little Joe 5B, or the Mercury capsule used on flights Mercury-Atlas 3 and Mercury Atlas 4, it became the only reentry capsule of the United States to be reflown before SpaceX' Crew Dragon. It is also the first capsule to ever be flown twice in space. The capsule was transferred to the Smithsonian Institution, as part of the National Air and Space Museum collection. A mock-up of the Gemini B capsule was put on display in the Allan and Malcolm Lockheed and Glenn Martin Space Gallery at the National Museum of the USAF in 2016. The flown Gemini SC-2 capsule was put on display in the exhibit hall of the Air Force Space and Missile Museum of the USAF in 2017.

Flight history

References

External links

* {{Reusable launch systems Individual space vehicles Individual spacecraft in the collection of the Smithsonian Institution Project Gemini Equipment of the United States Air Force Reusable spacecraft

Spacecraft history

Flight history

See also

References

Further reading

External links