![]() |
Gemini 3
Molly Brown
| Mission Number: GT-03 | 23 March 1965 |
Crew:
Backup Crew:
Walter
M. Schirra, Jr.
Thomas
P. Stafford
Launch:
Pad: LC 19
Date: 23 March 1965
Time: 14:24:00 UTC
Flight:
Orbits: 3
Duration: 4 hours, 52 minutes, 31 seconds
Landing:
Location: Atlantic Ocean (22° 26' N, 70° 51' W)
Vessel: USS
Intrepid (CVS-11)
Date: 23 March 1965
Time: 19:16:31 UTC
Grissom, having lost Liberty Bell 7 at sea, named this craft "Molly Brown" after "The Unsinkable Molly Brown", a popular musical of the era. NASA disapproved and thereafter did not permit the astronauts to name their capsules until Apollo.
Grissom smuggled aboard a corned beef sandwich, which he ate during the flight. Crumbs from the sandwich posed a safety hazard and NASA thereafter became more stringent about what the astronauts could or could not bring into space.
Gemini 3 can be found at the Grissom Memorial, Spring Mill State Park, Mitchell, IN.