Looking to recover from the emergency that cut short the mission of Gemini VIII, NASA looks toward Gemini IX. But Gemini IX will be the mission where everything seems to go wrong. Photos: https://www.spaceracehistorypodcast.com/post/episode-41-gemini-ix

On January 14, 1966, Sergei Korolev, the instigator of the Space Race, died. In the aftermath of his death, the Soviet manned spaceflight program will change direction to place more focus in the second-generation Soyuz and unmanned vehicles. Photos: https://www.spaceracehistorypodcast.com/post/episode-39-the-death-of-sergei-korolev

In 1965, internal fighting between Vladimir Chelomey and Sergei Korolev over control of the Soviet manned circumlunar flight program will cause the Soyuz Program to split into two branches. There will be an earth-orbital version of the Soyuz known as the Soyuz 7K-OK and a revised circumlunar flight version known as the Soyuz 7K-L1. Photos: https://www.spaceracehistorypodcast.com/post/episode-38-soyuz-reprogrammed

In 1965, Sergei Korolev firms up his plans for how the Soviet Union would land a cosmonaut on the moon's surface. The plan would rely on the N1 rocket and the L1 spacecraft complex. Photos: https://www.spaceracehistorypodcast.com/post/episode-37-the-n1-l3-complex

On October 25, 1965, NASA loses an Agena spacecraft and cancels the Gemini VI rendezvous mission. Three days after this setback, NASA announced the single most daring mission of the Gemini Program--the rendezvous of two Gemini spacecraft. Photos: https://www.spaceracehistorypodcast.com/post/episode-36-the-spirit-of-76

On August 21, 1965, NASA launched its first attempt at a long-duration mission of 8 days, the same amount of time it would take to get to the moon and back. Photos: https://www.spaceracehistorypodcast.com/post/episode-35-gemini-v

On June 3, 1965, NASA launches the Gemini IV and performs the first American spacewalk to a live audience. Photos: https://www.spaceracehistorypodcast.com/post/episode-34-gemini-iv

After a 20 month hiatus, NASA returns American astronauts to space with the Gemini III mission. Gemini III was the first manned spacecraft to maneuver in space, carried the first astronaut to return to space, and was the mission in which the first corned beef sandwich was ever consumed in space. Photos: https://www.spaceracehistorypodcast.com/post/episode-33-gemini-iii

On March 18, 1965, the Soviet Union launches the Voskhod 2 mission, and Alexei Leonov becomes the first person to ever perform a spacewalk. This mission was the high-water mark of Soviet achievement in the Space Race. Photos: https://www.spaceracehistorypodcast.com/post/episode-32-voskhod-2