The Space Race was on. NASA was just completing the one-man Mercury space program. Apollo would take three men to the moon but Apollo was later on in the sixties. What could they do to maintain their manned- space prowess until Apollo was on line? The answer lay in the new Gemini program, which used a two- man version of the Mercury spacecraft that would fly into space on a US Air Force Titan booster. Procedures and techniques developed on Gemini would be available for Apollo and a cadre of second and third generation astronauts would gain flying time, thus reducing the arduous training for the moon missions. The author recounts the activities at the Gemini launch pad through all 12 launches where this concept was realized thereby helping the US win the Space Race.