HOW NASA LEARNED TO FLY IN SPACE AN EXCITING ACCOUNT OF THE GEMINI MISSIONS NEW

The Gemini program is the middle child of human spaceflight; Mercury is the first and therefore well remembered and Apollo is the over-achieving younger sibling who gains fame and fortune. In the mix Gemini is often forgotten. David Harland's book helps to rescue the program from its obscurity. While it was initially conceived before Apollo got underway in 1961, after the commitment to the Moon landing Gemini morphed into a program to develop the skills necessary to reach the Moon. NASA closed most of the gap by experimenting and training on the ground, but some issues required experience in space. Three major areas immediately arose where this was the case. The first was the ability in space to locate, maneuver toward, and rendezvous and dock with another spacecraft. The second was closely related, the ability of astronauts to work outside a spacecraft. The third involved the collection of more sophisticated physiological data about the human response to extended spaceflight.Despite problems great and small encountered on virtually all of them, the program achieved its goals. Additionally, as a technological learning program, Gemini had been a success, with 52 different experiments performed on the 10 missions. The bank of data acquired from Gemini helped bridge the gap between Mercury and what would be required to complete Apollo within the time constraints directed by the president. This story is well-told in Harland's account.