a spacecraft malfunction killing two astronauts — so soon after the deaths of two others — would have been just the excuse the Luddites needed to shut NASA down. And of course, Gemini 8 also ...

Gemini 8 was in trouble. After completing the first space docking with another craft, it begins to spin uncontrollably. Ditching protocol, commanding officer Neil Armstrong tries an unorthodox plan.

A Titan II rocket took off from Cape Kennedy and carried a 6,900-lb. Gemini capsule 99 miles high. No attempt was made to orbit; the capsule arched like a missile and plunged down at 16.600 m.p.h ...

There were those who thought that flying two spacecraft whizzing around the Earth at 18,000 miles per hour wouldn’t work, and Gemini sought to prove them wrong. To achieve this, Gemini needed ...