Gemini 3

Gemini 3 was NASA's first crewed Gemini flight, carrying command pilot Gus Grissom and pilot John Young on March 23, 1965. During three Earth orbits, the crew evaluated the two-person spacecraft, tracking and communications, life-support systems, maneuvering propulsion, and controlled reentry. Grissom changed the capsule's orbit and made a small inclination change, demonstrating capabilities that Mercury had lacked and that later rendezvous missions would require. Before reentry, the crew lowered the orbit so that the spacecraft would eventually return even if its retrorockets failed. The mission splashed down in the Atlantic after about four hours and 53 minutes. Less lift than predicted caused a landing short of the planned recovery point, providing data for later guidance improvements. Most mission objectives were achieved, although a biological experiment failed mechanically and photography was limited by an unsuitable camera lens. Gemini 3 qualified the basic spacecraft for the longer and more demanding missions that followed.