Blue Gemini

Blue Gemini

Manned Orbital Development System

, or MODS. The plan was to use off-the-shelf Gemini spacecraft.

History

Blue Gemini would consist of two

Agena Target Vehicle rendezvous mission. It was possible that some of these later missions would carry only a single crew member, the other seat being occupied by experimental equipment. Possible payloads included a Manned Maneuvering Unit that would allow an astronaut to maneuver around the spacecraft, an advanced navigation system, an erectable structure, and a large ground mapping radar. The plan was to end Blue Gemini missions approximately four months before the debut of the MODS space station

.

Blue Gemini was canceled in January 1963 by Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara after he decided that military experiments could be carried aboard some NASA missions, i.e., Project Gemini. McNamara also canceled MODS at the same time. On 21 January 1963 McNamara and NASA Administrator James Webb agreed to create a Gemini Program Planning Board, "to avoid duplication of effort in the field of manned space flight and to insure maximum attainment of objectives of value to both the NASA and DOD."^[2]

In December 1963 McNamara approved the development of a

astronauts

to reach the MOL spacecraft.

Because Blue Gemini was a paper project that was canceled before NASA started any Gemini flights, no Blue Gemini hardware was constructed. A test article on display at the

Gemini B spacecraft, recognized by its distinctive "US Air Force" written on the side, and the circular hatch cut through the heat shield.^[3]

In fiction

The Blue Gemini trilogy of novels (Blue Gemini, Blue Darker Than Black, and Pale Blue) by Mike Jenne describe a fictional "Aerospace Support Project" which used a modified version of the Gemini spacecraft to execute military IIK (Intercept-Inspect-Kill) missions against Soviet satellites suspected of carrying nuclear weapons.