Project Gemini in the context of "Apollo program"

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA /ˈnæsə/) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the United States' civil space program and for research in aeronautics and space exploration. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., NASA operates ten field centers across the United States and is organized into mission directorates for Science, Space Operations, Exploration Systems Development, Space Technology, Aeronautics Research, and Mission Support. Established in 1958, NASA succeeded the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) to give the American space development effort a distinct civilian orientation, emphasizing peaceful applications in space science. It has since led most of America's space exploration programs, including Project Mercury, Project Gemini, the 1968–1972 Apollo program missions, the Skylab space station, and the Space Shuttle.

The agency maintains major ground and communications infrastructure including the Deep Space Network and the Near Space Network. NASA's science division is focused on better understanding Earth through the Earth Observing System; advancing heliophysics through the efforts of the Science Mission Directorate's Heliophysics Research Program; exploring bodies throughout the Solar System with advanced robotic spacecraft such as New Horizons and planetary rovers such as Perseverance; and researching astrophysics topics, such as the Big Bang, through the James Webb Space Telescope, the four Great Observatories (including the Hubble Space Telescope), and associated programs. The Launch Services Program oversees launch operations for its uncrewed launches.

NASA Astronaut Group 3 (nicknamed "The Fourteen") was a group of fourteen astronauts selected by NASA for the Gemini and Apollo programs. The Apollo spacecraft had a crew of three, so more astronauts were required. Their selection was announced in October 1963. Four died in training accidents before they could fly in space: Theodore Freeman, Charles Bassett and C. C. Williams in air crashes, and Roger Chaffee in the Apollo 1 fire. All of the surviving ten flew Apollo missions. Five also flew Gemini missions: David Scott, Gene Cernan, Michael Collins, Richard Gordon and Buzz Aldrin. Aldrin, Alan Bean, Cernan and Scott walked on the Moon, and Bill Anders, Collins and Gordon orbited the Moon but did not land.

Seven were from the United States Air Force (Aldrin, Anders, Bassett, Collins, Donn Eisele, Freeman and Scott), four from the United States Navy (Bean, Cernan, Chaffee and Gordon), one (Williams) was from the United States Marine Corps, and two (Walter Cunningham and Rusty Schweickart) were selected as civilians, although both had prior military experience. Like the two groups before them, all members of the group were male and white. All were married except for Williams, who became the first bachelor astronaut. Group 3 was the first to waive the requirement that candidates have a test pilot background, with 1,000 hours of jet aircraft experience accepted as a substitute. This applied to Aldrin, Anders, Cernan, Chaffee, Cunningham and Schweickart; all the others were test pilots. On average, its members were younger, slightly taller and heavier than those of the previous two groups, and better educated.

The John F. Kennedy Space Center (KSC, originally known as the NASA Launch Operations Center), located on Merritt Island, Florida, is one of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) ten field centers. Since 1968, KSC has been NASA's primary launch center of American spaceflight, research, and technology. Launch operations for the Apollo, Skylab and Space Shuttle programs were carried out from Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex 39 and managed by KSC. Located on the east coast of Florida, KSC is adjacent to Cape Canaveral Space Force Station (CCSFS). The management of the two entities work very closely together, share resources, and operate facilities on each other's property.

Though the first Apollo flights and all Project Mercury and Project Gemini flights took off from the then-Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, the launches were managed by KSC and its previous organization, the Launch Operations Directorate. Starting with the fourth Gemini mission, the NASA launch control center in Florida (Mercury Control Center, later the Launch Control Center) began handing off control of the vehicle to the Mission Control Center in Houston, shortly after liftoff; in prior missions it held control throughout the entire mission.

A launch escape system (LES) or launch abort system (LAS) is a crew-safety system connected to a space capsule. It is used in the event of a critical emergency to quickly separate the capsule from its launch vehicle in case of an emergency requiring the abort of the launch, such as an impending explosion. The LES is typically controlled by a combination of automatic rocket failure detection, and a manual activation for the crew commander's use. The LES may be used while the launch vehicle is on the launch pad, or during its ascent. Such systems are usually of three types:

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  A solid-fueled rocket, mounted above the capsule on a tower, which delivers a relatively large thrust for a brief period of time to send the capsule a safe distance away from the launch vehicle, at which point the capsule's parachute recovery system can be used for a safe landing on ground or water. The escape tower and rocket are jettisoned from the space vehicle in a normal flight at the point where it is either no longer needed, or cannot be effectively used to abort the flight. These have been used on the Mercury, Apollo, Soyuz, and Shenzhou capsules.
• The crew are seated in seats that eject themselves (ejection seats) as used in military aircraft; each crew member returns to Earth with an individual parachute. Such systems are effective only in a limited range of altitudes and speeds. These have been used on the Vostok and Gemini capsules, and Space Shuttle Columbia during its testing phase.
• Thrusters integrated in the capsule or its detachable service module having the same function as an escape tower, as in the case of Crew Dragon, Starliner and New Shepard.

The Mercury Seven were the group of seven astronauts selected to fly spacecraft for Project Mercury. They are also referred to as the Original Seven and Astronaut Group 1. Their names were publicly announced by NASA on April 9, 1959: Scott Carpenter, Gordon Cooper, John Glenn, Gus Grissom, Wally Schirra, Alan Shepard, and Deke Slayton. The Mercury Seven created a new profession in the United States, and established the image of the American astronaut for decades to come.

All of the Mercury Seven eventually flew in space. They piloted the six spaceflights of the Mercury program that had an astronaut on board from May 1961 to May 1963, and members of the group flew on all of the NASA human spaceflight programs of the 20th century – Mercury, Gemini, Apollo, and the Space Shuttle.

Gemini 4 (officially Gemini IV) was the second crewed spaceflight in NASA's Project Gemini, occurring in June 1965. It was the tenth crewed American spaceflight (including two X-15 flights at altitudes exceeding 100 kilometers (62 mi; 54 nmi)). Astronauts James McDivitt and Ed White orbited the Earth 66 times in four days, making it the first US flight to approach the five-day flight of the Soviet Vostok 5. The highlight of the mission was the first space walk by an American, during which White floated free outside the spacecraft, tethered to it, for approximately 23 minutes.

The flight also included the first attempt to make a space rendezvous as McDivitt attempted to maneuver his craft close to the Titan II upper stage which launched it into orbit, but this was not successful.

James Alton McDivitt Jr. (June 10, 1929 – October 13, 2022) was an American test pilot, United States Air Force (USAF) pilot, aeronautical engineer, and NASA astronaut in the Gemini and Apollo programs. He joined the USAF in 1951 and flew 145 combat missions in the Korean War. In 1959, after graduating first in his class with a Bachelor of Science degree in Aeronautical Engineering from the University of Michigan through the U.S. Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT) program, he qualified as a test pilot at the Air Force Experimental Flight Test Pilot School (Class 59C) and Aerospace Research Pilot School (Class I), and joined the Manned Spacecraft Operations Branch. By September 1962, McDivitt had logged over 2,500 flight hours, of which more than 2,000 hours were in jet aircraft. This included flying as a chase pilot for Robert M. White's North American X-15 flight on July 17, 1962, in which White reached an altitude of 59.5 miles (95.8 km) and became the first X-15 pilot to be awarded Astronaut Wings.

In 1962, McDivitt was selected as an astronaut by NASA as part of Astronaut Group 2. He commanded the Gemini 4 mission, during which Ed White performed the first U.S. spacewalk, and later the Apollo 9 flight, which was the first crewed flight test of the Apollo Lunar Module and the complete set of Apollo flight hardware. He later became the manager of lunar landing operations and was the Apollo spacecraft program manager from 1969 to 1972. In June 1972 he left NASA and retired from the USAF with the rank of brigadier general.