Gemini-Titan II Rocket — Handmade Metal Display Model
Gemini-Titan II Rocket — Handmade Metal Display Model
Model details
- Construction
- Handcrafted
- Collection
- Aviation Models - Airplanes Models
- Item no.
- AJ128
The launch vehicle that flew all ten crewed Gemini missions, in hand-formed metal.
Handcrafted as a full stack — first stage, second stage and Gemini spacecraft — with engine bell, stage separation and panel detail.
Details
- Handcrafted metal construction
- Full launch stack with Gemini spacecraft atop
- Engine bell and stage detail
- Hand-finished surfaces
- Ready to display
The rocket
Titan II began as an intercontinental ballistic missile, and that shaped everything about it. Its propellants were hypergolic — they ignite on contact with each other, needing no ignition system — because a missile had to launch within a minute of the order, with no time to load cryogenic fuel.
For Gemini that meant a launch vehicle that was simple, reliable and could sit fuelled and ready. It flew twelve times, ten of them crewed, without losing a crew. The same propellant combination is why the missile silos it came from were among the most dangerous places in the American military.