If you ever get the opportunity, go to an air and space museum and try to get a look at a Mercury capsule if you have one.
It's basically a trashcan with a person inside, stuck atop an ICBM. Pretty rad.
It's basically a trashcan with a person inside, stuck atop an ICBM. Pretty rad.
Gemini was slightly bigger [2], but I'm always amazed that the Gemini 7 crew spent fourteen days in a space about as large as the front seats of a compact car.
Exceptional people.
[1] http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/14/Mercury-s...
[2] http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bd/Gemini_sp...
Gemini was known as the Gusmobile, because Gus Grissom basically lived at McDonnell during its development and tailored the design to his own preferences. And really tailored. Because Gus Grissom was the shortest astronaut at 5'5" (1.65 meters), Gemini turned out to be uncomfortable for everyone else.