Object Details
Manufacturer
Weber Aircraft Corp.
Summary
Unlike the Mercury and Apollo spacecraft, which had rocket-powered "escape towers" to pull the capsule away from the booster in an emergency, the two-man Gemini used ejection seats to allow the astronauts to escape. This ejection seat is a spare that has been installed in the Gemini 3 spacecraft. Gemini 3 carried astronauts Virgil "Gus" Grissom and John Young on the first manned flight of Project Gemini on March 23, 1965.
These ejections seats had to function from zero velocity, during an ejection from the spacecraft while sitting on the launch pad, up to 100,000 ft. and a velocity of many times the speed of sound. A rocket motor made by Rocket Power, Inc., of Mesa, Arizona, powered the ejection seat, which was made by Weber Aircraft of Burbank, California.
The Gemini spacecraft manufacturer, McDonnell, gave this seat to the Smithsonian in 1970.
Credit Line
Transferred from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration through the McDonnell-Douglas Corporation
Inventory Number
A19710058000
Restrictions & Rights
Usage conditions apply
Type
SPACECRAFT-Crewed-Life Support
Materials
aluminum?
Dimensions
3-D: 55.9 x 139.7cm (22 x 55 in.)
Country of Origin
United States of America
See more items in
National Air and Space Museum Collection
Data Source
National Air and Space Museum
Link to Original Record
Record ID
nasm_A19710058000