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Detail of the "leg" of the hatch, part of the hatch actuator assembly. When installed on the spacecraft, an actuator rod would be connected via a pin to the base of the "leg", allowing it to pivot (e.g., see the pilot's hatch on Gemini 8 at Neil Armstrong Air & Space).

Unlike the Mercury and Apollo spacecraft, the Gemini spacecraft did not use a launch escape tower; rather, it was equipped with jet fighter-style ejection seats. In an emergency, a pyrotechnic system would push a rod upward to open the hatches, making way for the ejection seat.