is shown at console in the Mission Control Center, Houston, Texas, during Gemini 3's flight. Grissom, hoping to avoid duplication of the experience with his
Mercury flight
Liberty Bell 7 in which the capsule sank after
splashdown, came up with the nickname
Molly Brown, in a playful reference to the Broadway musical
The Unsinkable Molly Brown. Grissom and Young decided on Gemini 3 as the spacecraft's official name, and
Molly Brown became its unofficial nickname. The only major incident during the orbital phase involved a contraband
corned beef sandwich that Young had
smuggled on board, hiding it in a pocket of his spacesuit (though Director of Flight Crew Operations
Deke Slayton wrote in his autobiography that he gave Young permission to do so). Grissom found this to be highly amusing, saying later, "After the flight our superiors at NASA let us know in no uncertain terms that non-man-rated corned beef sandwiches were out for future space missions. But John's deadpan offer of this strictly non-regulation goodie remains one of the highlights of our flight for me." The crewmen each took a few bites before the sandwich was restowed. The crumbs it released could have wreaked havoc with the craft's electronics, so the crewmen were reprimanded when they returned to Earth. Other crews were warned not to pull the same type of stunt. Two small failures occurred in-flight. The first was an experiment testing the synergistic effect of zero gravity on
sea urchin eggs. A lever essential to the experiment broke off when pulled. The second involved the photographic coverage objective. It was only partially successful due to an improper lens setting on the 16 mm camera. Early in the flight, the crew noticed the craft gradually yawing left: 00 18 41 (Command Pilot) I seem to have a leak. There must be a leak in one of the thrusters, because I get a continuous yaw left. 00 18 53 (CapCom) Roger. Understand that you get a continuous yaw left. 00 18 57 (Command Pilot) Very slight. Very slow drift. First attributed to a stuck thruster, the problem was traced to a venting water boiler. The crewmen made their first
orbit change an hour and a half into the flight. The burn lasted 75 seconds and moved them from a orbit to a nearly circular one with a drop in speed of . The second burn, changing the orbital inclination by 0.02 degrees, was made 45 minutes later. The last burn, during the third orbit, lowered the perigee to . This was made so, in case the retrorockets had failed, the spacecraft would still have reentered the atmosphere. The experience of reentry initially matched expectations, with even the color and pattern of the plasma sheath that enveloped the capsule matching those produced for ground simulations. However, it soon became clear that
Molly Brown was off course and would land off target. Though
wind tunnel studies had suggested the spacecraft could maneuver to make up for the discrepancy, Gemini's real lift was far less than predicted, and Grissom was unable to significantly adjust course.
Molly Brown ultimately landed short of its intended
splashdown point. This was not the only unexpected event of the short descent: After its
parachutes were deployed, the spacecraft shifted from a vertical to horizontal attitude. The change was so sudden that Grissom cracked his faceplate (made of
acrylic) on the control panel in front of him. Later Gemini spacesuits and all Apollo and Space Shuttle (both launch-entry and EVA suits) used
polycarbonate plastic. Upon landing, the astronauts decided to stay in the capsule, not wanting to open the hatch before the arrival of the recovery ship. The crew spent an uncomfortable half-hour in a spacecraft not designed to be a boat. Due to unexpected smoke from the thrusters, the astronauts decided to deviate from the post landing checklist and to keep their helmets on with the face plates closed for some time after splashdown. The
Gemini III mission was supported by 10,185 personnel, 126 aircraft and 27 ships from the
United States Department of Defense. ==Insignia==