NASA's second round of human space flights got off the ground 40 years ago with the launch of Gemini III on March 23, 1965. Astronauts Gus Grissom and John Young orbited the Earth 3 times in their capsule "Molly Brown." splashing down in the Atlantic Ocean about 5 hours after launch.

The Gemini program was a bridge between Mercury and Apollo, demonstrating the flight duration, teamwork and rendezvous methods that would be necessary to go to the moon.

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