23 March 1965: Gemini 3 lifted off from Florida's Cape Kennedy Air Force Station, carrying Command Pilot Virgil "Gus" Grissom & Pilot John Young aboard the Gemini spacecraft Molly Brown atop a Titan II G.L.V. rocket; during three orbits, they were the first crew to maneuver their spacecraft in orbit & ate a contraband corned beef sandwich smuggled by Young; they were recovered by the U.S.S. Intrepid.
Commentary: Gemini is a Latin word meaning "twins," used to describe the Greek mythological figures Castor & Pollux. The reference was to the Gemini capsule's ability to carry two astronauts, as opposed to the one-man Mercury capsule. For the twins, their namesake Northern Hemisphere constellation, & the famous roller coaster @ Cedar Point, et alii, the word is pronounced "Jeh-mih-nye." For N.A.S.A.'s Project Gemini, the word was pronounced "Jeh-mih-nee," for reasons unknown.
With the liftoff of Gemini 3, Gus Grissom became the first person, not just the first American, to fly in space twice, albeit his first flight has been suborbital. This was just the first of the many ways in which Project Gemini would tilt the balance of the Space Race in favor of the United States of America & against the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.
Bonus! Space Race Song o' Gemini 3
The Beach Boys, "Little Deuce Coupe" from Little Deuce Coupe (Space Cadet Mike Papa Whiskey)
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