Rendezvous and Recovery Section, Gemini 3A

The rendezvous and recovery section of the Gemini two-astronaut spacecraft contained the parachutes for recovery and the rendezvous radar and docking equipment for missions in which the Gemini rendezvoused with another vehicle. This particular section was part of spacecraft 3A. Early in 1963 NASA decided it needed a replacement for spacecraft 3, which would be used for the first Gemini manned flight rather than altitude chamber tests. 3A was employed in hatch-opening tests and then was rebuilt as a flight-qualified vehicle, lacking only a heat shield and flight ejection seats. It was subjected to the extreme thermal and vacuum conditions of space in the McDonnell altitude chamber from December 19, 1964, to February 19, 1965, in a test series called Project Orbit.

The Smithsonian received this artifact from McDonnell in 1971 as part of a shipment of surplus Gemini hardware from the military Manned Orbiting Laboratory program.

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