“First American Gemini” Grissom Young Pinback Button
1965
Diameter: 1¾ inches
 
Commemorating Gemini III, the first crewed flight of NASA’s Gemini program, this colorful pinback button depicts astronauts Virgil I. “Gus” Grissom and John W. Young beneath the inscription “FIRST AMERICAN GEMINI,” with the launch date, March 23, 1965. Gemini III was also the first American two-man spaceflight, marking an important transition from the single-astronaut Mercury program to the increasingly complex missions required for the Apollo program. 
 
Launched from Cape Kennedy aboard a Titan II rocket, Grissom and Young completed three orbits during the nearly five-hour mission. The flight demonstrated the Gemini spacecraft’s maneuverability, including the first orbital maneuver performed by a crewed spacecraft, and tested techniques for controlling the spacecraft’s reentry. These capabilities would become essential to the rendezvous, docking, and other operations that ultimately enabled the United States to reach the Moon. 
 
Condition: Excellent.