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[b]Space Cover #302: Gemini 2 at 50[/b] Fifty years and a few days ago, Project Gemini passed its second and final unmanned test, paving the way for manned missions. Gemini 2 was launched on January 19, 1965 on a 92 mile high, 1848 mile long suborbital flight to test its heat shield. The capsule was recovered by the USS Lake Champlain, and an unnumbered Beck cachet postmarked on the prime recovery ship is shown above. One of the lesser-known facts about Gemini 2 is that the command module was re-used for the unmanned Gemini-MOL test flight on November 3, 1966. So, what's so special about an "unnumbered Beck"? Recall that Morris Beck designed the rubber stamp cachets for the recovery ships for each mission from MA-8 on through ASTP (known colloquially as "Navy Cachets"). He also designed and serviced printed cachets, and each of these cachet designs has a number in the format "B___" at the bottom. In addition, Beck sent along 25 of his printed cachets, without B-numbers and without stamps to each recovery ship for the crew to use at their discretion (hence, "unnumbered Beck"). This is one of the 25 for the Lake Champlain for Gemini 2. Ross Smith, a guest contributor to Space Cover of the Week (SCOTW) did a much more comprehensive entry on Beck Cachets in SCOTW #153. Additional information and images of Beck Cachets can be found on [URL=http://recovery_ships.rossjsmith.com]Ross' recovery ship cover website[/URL] and on [URL=http://www.beck.ormurray.com/index.html]Owen Murray's Beck Cachet website[/URL]. Anyone else have any favorite Gemini 2 covers? Let's post them! I can host your cover image if you need, just email me the image.
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