Post 0: Introduction and Why Gemini?
Post 0: Introduction
Reading about the history of spaceflight, Gemini stands out as an odd duck. It is a program which post-dates the approval of Apollo as a three-person capsule, and was initially supposed to be a minor upgrade to Mercury. Even the addition of a second seat was something its main designers had to fight for approval on. It had potential for missions like station ferry, early circumlunar flights, and orbital maneuvering, but almost everything it could do, Apollo could do better. Docking? Apollo had a more refined system with a pressurized passage built-in. Crew ferry? Apollo had more volume, managing three crew by design, and as many as five or six before becoming as cramped as Gemini was with two. Circumlunar flybys? It was a little lighter, but Apollo’s abilities were greater, and doable with launch vehicles that were in active development at the time. For a true Gemini-focused lunar program or station program using standard Gemini, you need to do something like what I did in Dawn of the Dragon where developing hardware beyond Gemini, Titan, or early Saturn payload capabilities would be impossible for…whatever hand-waved reasons. Of course, when increased capabilities come up, “Big Gemini” is a natural thing to mention. Being larger, it has more volume, capabilities, and adds a nifty aft pressurized module and docking port, with options for ports even bigger than Apollo. However, for all the love it gets over the years, it’s equally possible to pull the same trick with Apollo, and in the end either larger capsule will have little actually in common with the source vehicle. Structures, propulsion, life support, and a lot more will change leaving basically just a few structural panels. A “Big Gemini” is basically just admitting Gemini isn’t good for much as it was, after all.
But was it not good for much, after all? I think to really make a Gemini timeline work, you need to preserve Gemini roughly as it was, in a mission which works with the craft’s existing capabilities, or those easily derived from it. So what does that take? Well, today, let us try and pitch you on a second chance for America’s second spacecraft. What could justify an ongoing Gemini? What could it do? How long could it last? And what might come from having an undersized, out-of-date tin can continue to fly? Let’s dive into two stories from the untold, unclassified, never-officially-happened story of Black Gemini…
Reading about the history of spaceflight, Gemini stands out as an odd duck. It is a program which post-dates the approval of Apollo as a three-person capsule, and was initially supposed to be a minor upgrade to Mercury. Even the addition of a second seat was something its main designers had to fight for approval on. It had potential for missions like station ferry, early circumlunar flights, and orbital maneuvering, but almost everything it could do, Apollo could do better. Docking? Apollo had a more refined system with a pressurized passage built-in. Crew ferry? Apollo had more volume, managing three crew by design, and as many as five or six before becoming as cramped as Gemini was with two. Circumlunar flybys? It was a little lighter, but Apollo’s abilities were greater, and doable with launch vehicles that were in active development at the time. For a true Gemini-focused lunar program or station program using standard Gemini, you need to do something like what I did in Dawn of the Dragon where developing hardware beyond Gemini, Titan, or early Saturn payload capabilities would be impossible for…whatever hand-waved reasons. Of course, when increased capabilities come up, “Big Gemini” is a natural thing to mention. Being larger, it has more volume, capabilities, and adds a nifty aft pressurized module and docking port, with options for ports even bigger than Apollo. However, for all the love it gets over the years, it’s equally possible to pull the same trick with Apollo, and in the end either larger capsule will have little actually in common with the source vehicle. Structures, propulsion, life support, and a lot more will change leaving basically just a few structural panels. A “Big Gemini” is basically just admitting Gemini isn’t good for much as it was, after all.
But was it not good for much, after all? I think to really make a Gemini timeline work, you need to preserve Gemini roughly as it was, in a mission which works with the craft’s existing capabilities, or those easily derived from it. So what does that take? Well, today, let us try and pitch you on a second chance for America’s second spacecraft. What could justify an ongoing Gemini? What could it do? How long could it last? And what might come from having an undersized, out-of-date tin can continue to fly? Let’s dive into two stories from the untold, unclassified, never-officially-happened story of Black Gemini…
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