In 1961, US President John F. Kennedy raised the stakes of the Space Race by setting the goal of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to Earth by the end of the 1960s.[5] That same year, the US began the Apollo program of launching three-man capsules atop the Saturn family of launch vehicles to accomplish this; and, in 1962, began Project Gemini, which, in 1965 and 1966, flew 10 missions with two-man crews launched by Titan II rockets, Gemini's objective being to support Apollo by developing American orbital spaceflight experience and techniques to be used during the Moon mission.[6]