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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.

 Display Status

This object is not on display at the National Air and Space Museum. It is either on loan or in storage.
Object Details
Country of Origin United States of America Type SPACECRAFT-Crewed-Life Support Manufacturer Weber Aircraft Corp.
 Dimensions 3-D: 55.9 x 139.7cm (22 x 55 in.)
 Materials aluminum?
 Inventory Number A19710058000 Credit Line Transferred from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration through the McDonnell-Douglas Corporation Data Source National Air and Space Museum Restrictions & Rights Usage conditions apply
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