By Gemini to Mars

Mission Profile

By Gemini to Mars was a 1963 concept study by engineers at McDonnell Aircraft exploring whether a scaled-up Gemini spacecraft could be modified for a crewed Mars flyby mission using assembled nuclear-electric or chemical propulsion stages, conducted when it was hoped the Gemini program's proven design could serve as a foundation for beyond-Earth-orbit missions. The concept envisioned assembling a large interplanetary spacecraft in low Earth orbit using multiple Saturn launches, with a Gemini-derived crew capsule housing two to three crew members for the multi-year round trip. Like many Mars mission concepts of the early 1960s, it was never seriously funded but helped build the engineering knowledge base for what a human Mars mission would require.