passenger, despite some attempts to provide a measure of control, Gemini by contrast was flown , and was already proving itself capable of complicated manoeuvres; it was well on the way to becoming a proven spacecraft.
This was not the case with Apollo. Apollo was facing a series of delays, and plans to fly on the Saturn I booster had been cancelled, leaving an extended gap before any missions could be flown. For at least two years, only Gemini would be available for manned missions, and some discussions over the possibility of sending Gemini to the moon resumed. McDonnell began an extended study of the concept, despite Wernher Von Braun suggesting that the only reason for a Gemini to be sent around the moon would be, “a possible project to salvage this country's prestige if the manned lunar goal proves impossible.”
The conclusion was that such a flight was certainly within the limits of possibility. The designs for a 14-day Gemini were suitable with some modifications; the key problem would be the heat shield, which would require significant strengthening to cope with the increased translunar velocities. The profile suggested that a Saturn IB launcher with a hydrogen third-stage would be required for a single-launch flight to the moon. Other options were suggested; a Titan III launcher could be used to place the lunar Gemini into orbit, and another launcher could place a vehicle such as the Centaur in position to boost the Gemini into the translunar trajectory. The possibility of using on-orbit refuelling was also suggested – two Titan III launchers would be used, the first to fly the Gemini, the other to provide the additional fuel required.
Realistically, a dual-launch option would have been required; the whole point of the study was due to delays to the Apollo, and they were partly caused by delays to the Saturn family of launchers. The Titan had the virtue of being available for flight (though admittedly it could have led to conflicts with the Air Force, whose launcher it was). The 1964 plans for a translunar Gemini were essentially the same as the plans outlined in 1961; the basic design philosophies had not changed.
N either had the reason for the original rejection. Von Braun's reaction was typical of the attitudes within NASA. Apollo was the prestige project, and although Gemini was ongoing, Apollo was where the majority of attention and funding was focused; the prestige of the agency was certainly still tied up with Apollo, and so once again, the idea of a lunar project was stillborn.
There was still one last resurgence of the Lunar Gemini proposal, in 1965. This would use the codename, 'Large Earth Orbit' to camouflage an attempt to have a lunar flyby mission authorised. While in training for Gemini 5, astronaut Pete Conrad learned of the original lunar proposals for Gemini, and attempted to have them reinstated for a later Gemini mission he hoped to fly, utilising the Gemini-Centaur combination. The request got as far as Congress, and some interest was evinced in that body for such a flight, leading to inquiries of NASA management.
As a response to the proposal, NASA Administrator James Webb wrote to influential Congressmen Olin Teague, the chairman of the NASA oversight committee, stating that, “if additional funds were available, I believe that it would be in the national interest to use those on the Apollo program.” He even conceded that it was possible that the Soviet Union would reach the moon first on a flyby mission, but was still extremely reluctant to use an alternate program that might beat Apollo.
As with all the other lunar Gemini proposals, this one was dropped in order to avoid any distractions from Apollo; the only remnant was the high-altitude flight, taking Gemini 11 – commanded by Pete Conrad – to a new record altitude; he managed to sell NASA on this mission with the benefits of higher-altitude photography than had been possible before by manned