First reused space capsule
Gemini SC-2 (Spacecraft No. 2) was the second NASA Project Gemini full-up reentry capsule built. This McDonnell Gemini capsule was the first space capsule to be reused, flying twice in suborbital flights. SC-2 flew on Gemini 2 and OPS 0855 flights. The capsule is currently on display at the Air Force Space and Missile Museum at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.[1]
Spacecraft history
The capsule is part of the collection of the National Air and Space Museum of the Smithsonian Institution.[2]
On 19 January 1965, the Gemini 2 suborbital test mission was launched, with the second prototype Gemini capsule.[3][4]
In March 1965, NASA approved the transfer of the Gemini 2 capsule to the USAF for modification into the first prototype of the Gemini B capsule.[5]
On 3 November 1965, the first Manned Orbiting Laboratory (MOL) and Gemini B suborbital test mission was launched.[5] It is the first capsule to ever be flown twice in space.[6] Several Mercury capsules were used on multiple flights, including the capsule used on Mercury-Redstone 1 and Mercury-Redstone 1A, the Mercury capsule used on test flights Little Joe 5A and Little Joe 5B, and the Mercury capsule used on flights Mercury-Atlas 3 and Mercury Atlas 4, but none of these capsules surpassed the Kármán line on two separate flights. Thus, Gemini SC-2 became the only reentry capsule of the United States to be reflown in space before SpaceX's Crew Dragon Endeavour.[7]
The capsule was transferred to the Smithsonian Institution, as part of the National Air and Space Museum collection.[2]
A mock-up of the Gemini B capsule was put on display in the Allan and Malcolm Lockheed and Glenn Martin Space Gallery at the National Museum of the USAF in 2016.[2]
The flown Gemini SC-2 capsule was put on display in the exhibit hall of the Air Force Space and Missile Museum of the USAF in 2017.[3]
