Astronauts Grissom and Young wait inside their Gemini-3 spacecraft just after the hatches were closed prior to liftoff. McDonnell Aircraft Corp. technicians can be seen making final adjustments and inspection prior to leaving the white room atop the Titan launch vehicle at Pad 19, Cape Kennedy, Florida. Gemini 3 was the first manned mission in NASA's Gemini program, the second American manned space program. On March 23, 1965, astronauts Gus Grissom and John Young flew three low Earth orbits in their spacecraft, which they nicknamed Molly Brown. This was the 9th manned US spaceflight and the 17th world human spaceflight including eight Soviet flights. The mission's primary goal was to test the new, maneuverable Gemini spacecraft. In space, the crew fired thrusters to change the shape of their orbit, shift their orbital plane slightly, and drop to a lower altitude. Other firsts were achieved on Gemini 3: two people flew aboard an American spacecraft and the first manned reentry where the spacecraft was able to produce lift to change its touchdown point.