Usage Conditions May Apply Usage Conditions Apply There are restrictions for re-using this media. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page. IIIF provides researchers rich metadata and image viewing options for comparison of works across cultural heritage collections. More - https://iiif.si.edu View Manifest View in Mirador Viewer Usage Conditions May Apply Usage Conditions Apply There are restrictions for re-using this media. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page. IIIF provides researchers rich metadata and image viewing options for comparison of works across cultural heritage collections. More - https://iiif.si.edu View Manifest View in Mirador Viewer Usage Conditions May Apply Usage Conditions Apply There are restrictions for re-using this media. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page. IIIF provides researchers rich metadata and image viewing options for comparison of works across cultural heritage collections. More - https://iiif.si.edu View Manifest View in Mirador Viewer Usage Conditions May Apply Usage Conditions Apply There are restrictions for re-using this media. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page. IIIF provides researchers rich metadata and image viewing options for comparison of works across cultural heritage collections. More - https://iiif.si.edu View Manifest View in Mirador Viewer

McDonnell Aircraft Corporation of St. Louis originally built this Gemini capsule for NASA as Gemini Static #3. It was subjected to launch, reentry, abort, landing, and parachute loads as a part of the testing program for the two-man Gemini capsules, which carried ten astronaut crews into orbit in 1965-66. The capsule was then diverted at the McDonnell plant to the Department of Defense Manned Orbiting Laboratory (MOL) program, where it became the Gemini B Engineering Compatibility Vehicle (ECV). The MOL was to be a manned reconnaissance satellite, consisting of a cylindrical laboratory section with a large telescopic camera, and a modified Gemini capsule that would carry the astronauts into orbit and return them to the Earth.

In 1969 the Nixon Administration cancelled the MOL program before it could launch any military astronauts. That same year McDonnell transferred Gemini Static #3 to the Smithsonian for NASA.

 Display Status

This object is not on display at the National Air and Space Museum. It is either on loan or in storage.
Object Details
Country of Origin United States of America Type SPACECRAFT-Crewed Manufacturer McDonnell Aircraft Corp.
 Dimensions Overall: 130in. tall x 89 in. diameter (330.2 x 226.06cm)
 Materials titanium, Rene 41, aluminum
 Inventory Number A19711522000 Credit Line Transferred from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Data Source National Air and Space Museum Restrictions & Rights Usage conditions apply
For more information, visit the Smithsonians Terms of Use.