Today in History: Gemini 3

On this day (March 23) in 1965, the United States put Gemini 3 in orbit. It was the first time the U.S. had put a two-man capsule into space. (The Soviet Union had already put a two-man and three-man capsule into space.) And it was the first time anyone had changed a capsule’s orbit (they maneuvered to a lower altitude). Up until this time, capsules had been dependent on the orbit established by their rocket boosters when they were launched into space.