Gemini-Titan II
The first manned Gemini-Titan II, carry the Gemini 3 mission, standing
atop the pad with the gantry lowering. (NASA)
The Gemini program needed
a large booster to launch the larger two-place Gemini spacecraft. The Atlas D, used for the
orbital Mercury launches,
would not be sufficient. NASA decided to use the Titan II
InterContinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM). The
two-staged Titan II burned hypergolic (igniting on contact) could lift
a payload of 3,100 kg to a 185 km LEO (Low Earth Orbit). This would
work well for Gemini.
NASA made a contract with McDonnell Douglas to build
several upgraded Titan IIs with special backup systems to man-rate the
boosters, as requested.
Twelve flights in total were flown on the Gemini program, ten of which
were manned.
Gemini-Titan
II specifications
Country: USA
Organization: NASA
Stages: 2
Length: 30.1 meters
Diameter: 3.1 meters
Mass: 150,530 kilograms
Cost: $16,240,000