AllMovie

Before the U.S. Space Program was able to put men on the moon, the team at NASA looked to Project Gemini as a means to get them there. Space flight was put to the test in this early project -- launch vehicles were tested, ground procedures for maintaining communications were fine-tuned, and the astronauts familiarized themselves with orbiting and docking maneuvers. Since these early missions were flown by a crew of just two astronauts, the project was named Gemini, after the astrological twins of the zodiac. Project Gemini: Bridge to the Moon profiles all ten manned Gemini missions flown. These missions proved to be some of the most dangerous of NASA's efforts at space exploration, since the technology was brand new and procedures were tested for the first time. These missions led to a refinement of the scientific, medical, and engineering technology used in later Apollo missions. Six of the original astronauts who flew on Gemini are interviewed in this documentary, including Buzz Aldrin, who later participated in the U.S. Space Program's first lunar mission.