Gemini Program Manager Charles W. Mathews initiated a spacecraft manager program by assigning one engineer to Gemini spacecraft No. 5 and another to spacecraft No. 6. A

Assignments to other spacecraft would come later. Following the precedent established in Mercury and then in Gemini by Martin, McDonnell, and Aerojet-General, one man would follow the spacecraft from manufacturing through testing to launch, serving as a source of up-to-date information on his spacecraft and calling attention to particular problem areas.