Four Days of Gemini 4 (1965)

[Music] at four o'clock in the morning on June 3rd two men arose in Florida they began preparing for their day's work as they had since June a year ago Jim McDevitt command pilot of Gemini 4. Ed White pilot in the right seat for the next few hours they would systematically progress toward launch the steps were now on normal routine they had done them again and again they had practiced flying Gemini 4 in a simulator they had practiced emergency aborts they had their temperature and blood pressure taken one day in St Louis as part of the Thousand and One Things the crew did mcdivitt disassembled the locking mechanism of the spacecraft hatch later today that would become important but it was now June 3rd A year had ended for these men a year devoted to a single goal flying a four-day mission in Germany 4. [Music] in America's first long-duration mission Gemini 4 would complete 62 revolutions the Flight Plan called for the spacecraft to be inserted into orbit at 32.5 degrees north latitude at 185 statute miles in altitude over Bermuda people were already adding a new word to their vocabularies Eva it stood for extra vehicular activity some were uncertain whether you said Eva or Eva but regardless of the pronunciation it would become an abbreviation of our time the Flight Plan called for Eva to begin on the second orbit somewhere over Hawaii the pilot was to open the hatch of a depressurized cabin and stand up over the west coast of the United States he would leave the spacecraft and expose himself to space for 12 minutes he would perform Maneuvers over the United States he would return to Germany IV and continue the mission as the spacecraft neared the night side of the earth over the Atlantic this was the flight plan a special Eva suit and life support pack had been designed and tested by NASA engineers in the crew systems division the Eva helmet has three visors the innervisor is the normal suit visor which sealed in suit pressure over it are two special visors they are detachable and need not be worn throughout the entire mission the outer or sun visor is easily recognized from its gold coating it reflects both visible light and infrared Rays with it attached only 10 percent of the sun's visible light is admitted beneath the sun visor but not visible here is an inner protective visor made of polycarbonate plastic the Gemini suit has layers of aluminized mylar nylon and felt in combination they protect the astronaut against temperature and space particles special over gloves are worn to guard against extremes of space temperature if the astronaut should grasp the spacecraft during Eva as the astronaut leaves Gemini he is attached by a supporting umbilical line 25 feet long the umbilical is actually one assembly consisting of three elements a nylon tension line electrical wiring and an umbilical line the nylon line or tether is shorter than the umbilical line it takes all loads exerted during Eva and can withstand one thousand pounds of pull the electrical wiring enables the astronaut to maintain direct communication with his command pilot it also records biomedical readings for ground surgeons the umbilical line furnishes oxygen to the suit from the spacecraft's primary oxygen system the life support pack mounted on the parachute harness contains an emergency oxygen bottle if the umbilical line should fail the astronaut would have enough oxygen to support him for at least nine minutes more than enough time for him to return to the spacecraft safely in an emergency the pilot also carries a small maneuvering unit during Eva the so-called Space Gun designed by NASA Engineers of the flight crew Support Division the gun provides a limited amount of thrust from compressed oxygen for basic maneuvering experiments Gemini 4 is counting down on the launch pad as the count goes into its final two hours the crew arrives at pad 19. there have been no holes the weather is good the astronauts enter the elevator and ride it to the erector white room which surrounds Gemini 4. the crew enters the spacecraft the hatches are sealed 732 Eastern Standard Time the crew is now a part of the countdown they begin checking out the spacecraft systems it is T minus 100 minutes the launch vehicle and spacecraft continue the clean count interrupted only by a bulky erector which didn't want to lower properly that cost us some time but presented no serious problem at T minus 30 minutes the pad was cleared now there is just a spacecraft launch vehicle and two men on top of it all systems are good at this time they launch control at the cape T-minus 10 minutes and Counting six minutes before launch the spacecraft test conductor signed off to the spacecraft with these final words okay Jim have a good flight five four three two one zero ignition liftoff [Music] at 10 16 Eastern Standard Time Gemini 4 was on its way we have a role program initiated lots have started and in sync and in sync all right parole program completed report and the pitch program has been initiated Mark 50 seconds and we'll go guidance reports ago the flight trajectory looks very very close to right on the nominal Village but we're okay reports Gemini 4 is gopher staging which will occur in a very few seconds we have staging and it's been confirmed here on the ground first looks good Gemini 4 entered orbit with an insertion velocity of 25 745 feet per second within 11 feet per second of plan velocity the apogee of the first orbit was 177.6 statute miles the perigee 100.8 statute miles command pilot mcdivitt started to work at once attempting to fly an airplane formation with the second stage of the launch vehicle the full resources of NASA and Houston were on hand to support Germany for a new three-storied building flight controllers at the manned spacecraft Center assumed Direct Control of the mission for the first time in the space program the mission director now checked the status of a possible rendezvous everything seemed favorable at that time but as the first orbit progressed the second stage of the launch vehicle Drew away from it now uh it's taken a little more fuel than we had anticipated to really make a major effort to close this last thing or to save the field the answer was almost immediate from the mission director you might tell him uh as far as we're concerned we want to save the fuel we're concerned about the lifetime more than we are imagine that booster okay and that was it okay the second stage of the launch vehicle went on to become simply space object 1391 it would burn up over the Mid-Atlantic two days later okay we're giving you a go for your Eva at this time okay the crew started their checklist for Eva but command pilot mcdivitt decided not to rush things he elected to go for Eva on the third Revolution next pass around tell him we're happy with that most of the world waited 100 miles below the crew had completed final preparations the cabin was depressurized and the hatch opened coming up on Hawaii mcdivitt reported that he was satisfied and ready to begin Eva nice elevated rates which we expected and he's really speeded it up but he looks great let's go okay oh I Houston flight Houston fly to White Cap Com go tell him we're ready to have him get out when he is Germany 408 Capcom we just had word from Houston we're ready to have you get out whenever you're ready okay we better go now is that right affirmative okay we're still doing a little work right here Roger understand get his status Hawaii Gemini four I like Captain around I think I'm dragged in a little bit so I don't want to fire the gun yet okay I'm out all right okay I'll put a little roll then take it right out I'll come over to you all right it is I've come above the spacecraft I'm gonna back down now I'm under my own control okay I'm coming over I feel like a million dollars talk to you because yep okay I'm right by the I'm right by the Sunday at dinner now okay [Music] here now stay right there I had very good control with it I just needed more air all right very easy to maneuver with the gun the only problem I have is I have got enough fuel and it's not the fuel now that I was able to maneuver myself out front of the spacecraft back and maneuvered right up back on the back of the adapter just about Jim came back into his View this is the greatest experience on it's just tremendous right now I'm standing on my head and I'm looking right down it looks like we're coming up on the coast of California go on a slow rotation to the right there's absolutely no disorientation associated with it one thing about it when it gets out there and starts wiggling around it sure makes a spacecraft okay I'm dripping down underneath the Space Jam there's no difficulty with them they're contacting the spacecraft it's all very fast particularly as long as you move nice and slow I feel very bad for the hard experience peace doing that I'll bring myself in and put myself out in your future is he taking pictures no I think you're doing fine what I'd like to do is get all the way out here and get a picture of the whole Space Jam I don't seem to be doing that yeah I noticed that you can't seem to get far enough away no Texas remote California Go Local I'm coming back down on the spacecraft listen it's all the difference in the world with this gun [Music] stay we'll get a picture uh yeah no not now I'm out of it yeah you got about five minutes yeah we'll let myself go out now 74 Houston they don't even need one 74 Houston Capcom the flight director says get back in okay where are we over now I don't know we're coming over to the west west area they want you to come back in now Roger we've been trying to talk to you for a while here you got about four minutes to go Bermuda MLS history will record that command pilot McDevitt opened the hatch at 242 Eastern Standard Time and a little after three o'clock along the Eastern Seaboard pilot White had opened up a new frontier for Americans to explore in 21.5 minutes Eva was completed inside the spacecraft the crew was faced with a problem the hatch would not close that day in St Louis when mcdivitt took apart the locking mechanism now paid off the hatch finally closed the cabin was repressurized and the mission settled back into its four-day cycle the crew was busy stowing the extra equipment America settled back into its daily routine TV and radio return to their regular programs news reporters and editors concentrated on other stories like their Earthbound counterparts the crew settled down to working eating sleeping but most of us have not flown in orbit it might seem that two men in space for four days have considerable time hanging over them what is it like your basic job is that of a space test pilot and like all test pilots you must follow a careful routine each spacecraft system must be checked out on a planned schedule you verify your readings with ground control it goes like this [Applause] okay [Applause] in the past an astronaut stuck very close to the basic job of flying a mission performing as many simple experiments as his flight plan permitted but the four days of Gemini 4 gave command pilot mcdivitt an opportunity to live in space and plan work on a scale impossible before his flight plan included 11 on-board experiments for convenience they may be roughly divided into medical measurement and photographic categories there were three medical experiments in-flight exercise in-flight phonocardiogram and Bone demineralization the five measurement experiments included measurement of radiation spacecraft exterior radiation spacecraft interior measurement of the electrostatic charge accumulated on the spacecraft exterior measurement of the direction and amplitude of the Earth's magnetic field Sextant type measurements for navigation study and finally there were three photographic experiments synoptic weather photography synoptic terrain photography Earth limb photography all 11 experiments are important in increasing our knowledge of how man will live and work in space but the photographic experiments are visually more interesting to us as Gemini 4 swept over Africa it looked down on the ancient Nile Delta from approximately 120 miles in space in a single photograph it caught a view that includes portions of seven countries in which some 25 million people live experts identify Alexandria dead center screen at the bottom of the frame this is Port Saeed entrance to the Suez Tel Aviv and the Dead Sea with their long historical associations are left screen and to the right almost parallel lie the Red Sea and the Gulf of Suez the Earth's limb or boundary layer of red and blue above the atmosphere was the subject of another experiment reduced to a grayscale by filters these photographs will be studied with a micro densitometer to determine the excess elevation of the blue Lin above the red as an aid in space navigation the experiments were conducted throughout the entire Mission and all were completed on the second day as Gemini 4 came within range of Hawaii it set a new American space record everyone was pretty casual the new American space flight record congratulations back here we got the quite a few more to go people went to work and returned home in many parts of the country it was already Summer with the weekend coming up the cars were heading for the beach the mission of Germany to live and work in space for four days went on food has been planned as a working man's ration four meals a day 2600 calories laid out on a table it looks a little different from a regular meal plastic packages with bite-sized meals or freeze-dried food to be reconstituted with water but it was good solid everyday fare meat salmon chocolate pudding chicken potato soup after the first day the astronauts ate the prescribed four meals a day they would come down with only a portion of the last meal left but sleep in space required an initial adjustment by the crew it was somewhat like sleeping out under fuel conditions each astronaut showed individual patterns of response to the new environment and white seemed to sleep more restfully than mcdivitt during the final two days of the mission command pilot mcdivitt took a series of formal and informal motion picture shots with a 16 millimeter camera mounted at the Pilot's window the camera turns inward for a brief moment we are able to ride tourist class with Gemini 4 watching the crew at work we catch a glimpse of a space Sunrise flaring in brilliant color over the Earth's Horizon using the same camera magnific photographed ground objects including this small island in the Gulf of Mexico off the Texas coast on another occasion he photographed approaches to Yuma Arizona the detail seen here shows great promise for scientific exploration of the earth heretofore impossible using this technique we could chart the major currents of the ocean study weather patterns and map the geology of the Earth shortly after the new shift came into mission control on the fourth day the first spacecraft problem arose the computer did not function s we'll work on it we'll give you an answer if we get one the malfunction was pinpointed in the 49th Revolution when it did not clear up Mission director Christopher Kraft made a decision Gemini 4 would go to a rolling re-entry he immediately queried the command pilot what is your feelings on a rolling reentry versus a 90 degree Bank angle we're recommending rolling here yeah get the job done so why don't we go ahead with it the 60th Revolution the fourth day and the computer out but no problem the flight surgeons made their final checks both men were busy stowing equipment now it was the 60-second Revolution coming up on Hawaii the orbital attitude and maneuver thrusters were fired to assure orbital Decay and re-entry if the retrograde Rockets did not fire now television and radio were back again a nation paused on a Monday morning waiting to fly in with the crew of Gemini 4. hit one mark Gemini 4 would fly the same type of re-entry as Gemini 2 and earlier unmanned flight we will illustrate the re-entry of mcdivitt with film from that flight this is an onboard camera Gemini 2 looking through the spacecraft window the film is reproduced at four times normal speed really great how about you 94 Houston Capcom all right Roger you started your rolling ramping oh your weather is still very good Jim Communications with the ground break off but the onboard tape recorder is running we listened to two men returning to Earth after four days in space look back and relax though I think we got now about five you know it's kind of nice coming off my window Thursday isn't it during re-entry the USS Wasp launched 13 search and Recovery aircraft Gemini 4 splashed down at 12 13 Eastern Standard Time June 7 1965. it was cited by a search aircraft seven minutes later Navy Frogman swiftly attached the flotation collar and a 1239 command pot at mcdivitt opened the hatch both men took a deep Gulf of fresh air four days in space had ended the command pilot requested a pickup by helicopter and in a matter of minutes the prime recovery helicopter had the crew safely on board they were flown to the deck of the wasp Admiral William McCormick commander of the western Atlantic recovery forces and his staff offered the first formal congratulations on the flight the crew then walked to the carrier elevator Bound for their physical examination a long series of physical examinations would follow in the days ahead the condition of both astronauts was excellent while the doctors were examining the crew another group of men were scrutinizing other data just as closely the engineers who designed the spacecraft and solved the problems took a hard look at what happened they analyzed miles of coated tape which spell out each detail of the mission the results were more than a demonstration of man's ability to go into space in return Gemini 4 was a major advance in manned space flight operations the first time two men had spent four days in space the crew eating working sleeping in space demonstrated that man can perform a number of functions in the exploration of space in a properly controlled environment and suffer no significant ill effect from Extended space flight Colonel white demonstrated that an extra vehicular astronaut could travel in a precise manner from point to point for the first time during an extra vehicular activity the spacecraft was flown with steady control by its command pilot Colonel mcdivitt also performed re-entry under manual control further evidence that man can circumvent problems which arise by carrying out a primary operation in a straightforward manner Germany IV was an encouraging landmark in relation to the Future objectives of both the Germany and Apollo programs [Music]