March 23, 1965 9:24am
Crew: Gus Grissom, John Young
Orbits: 3
Duration: 4 hours 56 minutes 5 seconds
On March 23rd, 1965, NASA launched Gemini III. Veteran astronaut Gus Grissom and rookie John Young. Alan Shepard had originally been scheduled to command the mission but was replaced by Grissom after he was grounded in 1964. The flight was a manned shakedown cruise, lasting less than five hours.
In that time, the crew fired their thrusters, adjusting their orbit, the first time that had been done aboard a manned spacecraft. It was a key test, a first step toward the more complicated maneuvers to come on later Gemini missions.
Coming home was more exciting than expected. When the parachutes opened, the Gemini suddenly shifted from a vertical to a horizontal orientation. Grissom lurched forward, smashing his helmet’s faceplate on the control panel. After splashdown, smoke in the cabin forced the crew to keep their helmets closed. And they decided to keep the hatches closed until the recovery crews arrived on the scene.
Ironically, Grissom had named the spacecraft “Molly Brown,” a reference to the Broadway show The Unsinkable Molly Brown and the loss of Liberty Bell 7. NASA was not amused and refused to allow astronauts to name their spacecraft until Apollo 9 four years late.
The mission had been almost a complete success. But there had been a stowaway on board. When the crew took a break for a snack, John Young handed Grissom a corned beef sandwich Wally Schirra had purchased from a Cocoa Beach restaurant. Although Deke Slayton had given his permission, NASA officials and members of Congress were furious. Grissom later told the Miami News, “After the flight our superiors at NASA let us know in no uncertain terms that non-man-rated corned beef sandwiches were out for future space missions.”
The spacecraft is now on display at the Grissom Memorial at Spring Mill State Park, near Grissom’s hometown of Mitchell, Indiana.
a new name for 'hi Im with the Govt, I'm here to help' : spirit killer? it is not 'we have met the Enemy and he is Ours', it is 'We have met the Enemy and he is Us', with apologies to Pogo's Jack Kelly