Friends and Rivals

Overview

Every stage of the space programme was driven forward by the United States' desire to be leaders of the space race, ahead of the Soviets. The future of the programme rested squarely on the shoulders of Ed White, the man chosen to perform the first spacewalk for NASA. The members of Project Gemini became some of the most famous astronauts in the world and their unflinching bravery and pioneering spirits lifted them above the status of ordinary men.