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Initials



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Background: GEMINI CAPSULE ARRIVING AT CAPE KENNEDY AND BEING MATED WITH THE TITAN TWO LAUNCH VEHICLES FOR THE FIRST TIME.

THIS IS THE NINETY-FOOT-LONG AIR FORCE TITAN-TWO LAUNCH VEHICLE AS IT STANDS READY TO MEET THE NASA GEMINI SPACECRAFT FOR THE FIRST TIME. SURROUNDING THE MARTIN COMPANY-BUILT ROCKET IS THE ONE-HUNDRED-FORTY-TON ERECTOR WHICH LIFTS THE TITAN INTO LAUNCH POSITION AND SERVES AS A WORK PLATFORM. CRANES THEN LIFT THE BELL-SHAPED SPACECRAFT FIRST TO THE DECK AND THEN, TO THE EIGHT LEVEL OF THE ERECTOR. THERE, 109-FEET ABOVE THE DECK, IT IS COAXED THROUGH THE WHITE ROOM DOOR...THE WHITE ROOM BEING A TWENTY-FIVE-TON, ENCLOSED CONTROLLED TEMPERATURE ROOM ATOP THE ERECTOR. THIS WHITE-WALLED ROOM GIVES ENGINEERS A CLEAN ENVIRONMENT IN WHICH TO SERVICE THE SPACECRAFT. AFTER IT'S PLACED EXACTLY OVER THE ROCKET, THE SPACECRAFT IS INCHED DOWN UNTIL IT'S SNUGLY RESTING ON THE TITAN. AFTER THE INITIAL UNMANNED TESTS, THE GEMINI SPACECRAFT WILL BEGIN ITS SERIES OF MANNED FLIGHTS, WHERE IT WILL PERFORM IT LONG DURATION AND RENDEZVOUS MISSIONS.