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Overall view of the top of the command pilot's seat.

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.

The rail on which the ejection seat would travel when activated is visible to the right of the picture.