David Woods turned his boyhood fascination with Apollo into a lifelong passion. He combined his deep interest with an ability to explain complex technical subjects to the layperson, and has written extensively about Apollo and the technical challenges it presented. David curates the Apollo Flight Journal for NASA, detailing the moment-by-moment reality of flying to the Moon. He is the co-author of both the Haynes Lunar Rover and Gemini Manuals.

Published to mark the 50th anniversary of the first mission of the Gemini programme in 1965 Explanations of the spacecraft's systems - Titan II rocket launch vehicle, guidance an navigation, environmental control, reaction control and propulsion, re-entry and Earth landing, communications and electrical power. Techniques and accomplishments of the programme - controlled rendezvous and docking, use of a docked rocket to achieve extreme altitude, spacewalking, controlled re-entry, long-duration flight, mission control. The many 'firsts' accomplished during Gemini missions - first US two-man spacecraft, first US spacewalk, first manoeuvre in a manned spacecraft, first in-flight computer, first in-flight radar, first rendezvous, first docking, first controlled re-entry, first fuel cells for electrical power, firsts optical navigation in space. A wealth of artwork, photography and illustrations from the NASA archives.

Covering all missions and all models between 1965 and 1966, this is a prequel to Haynes's bestselling "Apollo 11 Manual", and details the technology that was trialed on the Gemini spacecraft in order to develop the Apollo systems that led to man landing on the moon. Published to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the first Gemini flight.