History of Space Travel 8 : Legacy of Gemini

[Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] hello I'm Jim berett of NASA's Lewis Research Center in Cleveland Ohio during this eighth program in the history of space travel we'll see a film called Legacy of Gemini it looks at a group gr of flights in which American astronauts orbited the Earth to learn to live and work in Space the flights were stepping stones in preparation for flights to the moon now let's see the film which was made in [Music] 1965 this is Saturn 5 the rocket that will send three Americans toward the moon in Project Apollo but this hisor Journey cannot be attempted without knowledge knowledge based on experience for the United States experience came by seeking answers to certain basic questions could a human being withstand an 8-day flight to the moon and back could a man control the movements of his spacecraft rendevu and dock with another vehicle orbiting the moon could he leave the protective cover of his spacecraft and perform useful work in space space could he function effectively as an experimenter and use space flight to advance human [Music] knowledge could the Apollo spacecraft be guided and controlled during re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere so it could make Precision Landings any place on [Music] Earth if the answer to any of these questions was no it had to be known before three men travel a quarter of a million miles to the moon and so in 1961 the gmany program came into being as the necessary Prelude to Apollo this is the story of Germany and its Legacy to space [Music] [Applause] flight on Germany training began on Earth and in the atmosphere spere this specially designed airplane was flown hundreds of times on parabolic sweeps into the sky to provide the giny astronauts with brief periods of weightlessness here seconds at a time the difficulties of living in space were rehearsed working under zero gravity the geminy astronauts gained experience with the equipment and techniques they would soon take into space it took hours of training under these rigorous conditions to develop the confidence needed for operating in the space [Music] [Applause] environment the gmany astronauts took their equipment underwater balanced between sinking and Rising they learned to Pace themselves as they performed tasks in a condition that simulated longer periods of [Music] weightlessness in the translation and docking simulator they got the feel of maneuvering their spacecraft into position for docking with another vehicle [Music] in the gy mission simulator they flew entire missions without leaving the ground here they learned to react quickly and correctly to problems fed to them through computers [Music] the gmany astronauts Expos themselves to the stresses of the space environment they trained for emergencies learning how to react if things did not go exactly according to plan parachute training in case they were forced to eject from their spacecraft water survival for Landings in the ocean survival in desert and [Music] jungle but ultimately there was no substitute for being there geminy took the men and the tools and the problems into [Music] orbit in the 18 months between March 1965 and November 1966 10 manned missions were launched from Cape Kennedy 16 astronauts journeyed to their spacecraft on Launchpad 19 Virgil Grom and John Young were first then James MCD and Edward White El Gordon Cooper and Charles Conrad Frank Borman and James Lovel Walder shirah Thomas Stafford Neil Armstrong David Scott Eugene cernon and Michael Collins Richard Gordon Edwin Aldon four of the gmany astronauts made the trip twice together these men helped thrust the United States into a new era of exploration geminy was a single concept with a number of assignments it was in a sense one launch one flight One recovery stand by for 10c countdown 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 ignition Miss off la [Music] space is infinite it yields slowly to exploration in their voyages into this environment the gmany astronauts logged more than 1,940 man hours of flight hurtling through space at 5 m a second they circled the Earth 600 [Music] times in their 40 Earth days in space they witnessed as few men have hundreds of sunsets on the changing Horizons of our [Music] [Applause] planet sweeping over continents in a matter of minutes they gained A New Perspective of Earth [Music] for gmany equipment and techniques were developed that enabled astronauts for the first time to maneuver their spacecraft to change their orbit to accelerate to new [Music] heights the first geminy Maneuvers were basic flying formation with the spent second stage of the Titan 2 [Music] rocket then a more difficult step rendevu finding and approaching another craft in space okay okay d8 06 35 0 z pass at Hawaii r four the first Target for rendevu was another man spacecraft gmany 6 approached within 1 foot of geminy 7 rendevu a major landmark in the history of man [Music] flight aboard giny 7 astronaut Borman prepares to take Motion Pictures of gmany 6 as the two spacecraft begin their station keeping exercise [Applause] we 10 rendus were accomplished during the giny program the techniques varied for this maneuver is important to project Apollo the lunar module on returning from the surface of the Moon must rendevu and duck with the command and service module in Germany conditions of lunar orbit were simulated in Earth orbit and confidence for Apollo [Music] [Music] grew on four of the giny missions the rendevu target was the aena space vehicle during the program the gmany astronauts located and docked with the aenas nine times developing experience and confidence in this important maneuver this experience is vital to the lunar mission for the Apollo Astronauts will dock twice on their Journey from the earth to the moon and [Applause] [Music] back as the spacecraft moved in docking lights aboard the vehicle helped guide the pilot during the final stages of the maneuver okay I it looks good here from the ground we're showing tone rigid uh everything looks good for the docking okay uh we're going to cycle our [Music] [Applause] switch flight we are down but not everything always went according to plan on giny 8 a Thruster failed causing excessive yaw and roll unable to find the source of trouble command pilot Armstrong undocked [Music] the roll rate accelerated reaching an alarming one revolution per second but Armstrong fought and won his struggle to regain control and he brought gmany 8 to a safe landing on gmany 9 when an atlas rocket failed to place the aena into orbit a substitute docking Target was launched trouble developed on the new Target when it shroud failed to separate leaving what the astronauts quickly named the angry alligator how are you got a looking for sh here although the docking maneuver had to be canceled the flight plan was revised so the astronauts could go on to practice rendevu two more times developing faith in their ability to cope with adversity and to learn from the unexpected job is about 25 to 30° in both the bant Springs looks like are fully [Applause] extended on two missions the gmany astronauts actually assembled a new spacecraft in orbit the combined aena and [Music] geminy after docking they commanded the aena to restart its own rocket [Music] engine on one Mission this space built vehicle was flown to a record altitude of 851 mi from their vantage point in Space the astronauts had a spectacular view of our planet [Music] although flight experience was the primary objective of gmany the program offered a unique space laboratory to science medicine and Technology more than 50 experiments were carried on the giny spacecraft many were repeated on several flights one experiment was photography of the earth vast areas never seen by men and their entirety were studied more than 2,000 photographs were taken from space during the gmany program these pictures are being used to correct maps and to provide oceanographers geologists and geographers with new information about the Earth [Applause] [Music] the giny astronauts also use their cameras to photograph Cloud patterns and other atmospheric phenomena this work supplemented information obtained from unmanned weather satellites hundreds of high resolution photographs were made to provide new knowledge about the weather of the [Music] world the astronomical Sciences also benefited from geminy for the orbiting spacecraft enables scientists to send instruments far above the blanket of atmosphere which filters ands obscures a variety of phenomena on gmany 12 an eclipse of the sun was photographed for the first time from space the results of scientific research conducted on gmany have been made available to the world not only helping to advance man's knowledge but promoting a greater measure of understanding among nations [Music] three of the man geminy missions were flown to investigate the problems of long duration space flight gmany 4 was a 4-day mission gmany 5 8 Days on geminy 7 astronauts Lovel and Borman spent two weightless weeks in space [Music] these flights confirm the endurance of man and his new spacecraft systems they showed that an astronaut can live in space longer than is required for a round trip to the moon and thus pave the way for project Apollo [Music] using the aena space vehicle the astronauts also experimented with a new technique for holding their spacecraft's attitude fixed with respect to the Earth normally this requires the continuous use of fuel is just about horizontal with us right now and what we're going to do is put in a very small TR but on two missions a Deon tether was attached between the spacecraft and the aena the ter is nicely T now and I think we keep it t we might be able slightly nearer the Earth was pulled more strongly by gravity than was the spacecraft this small difference was enough to stabilize the vehicles so they could maintain their position without use of fuel this technique has important implications for for future space missions perhaps the most spectacular experiment of the geminy program was extravehicular activity astronaut Ed White made the first American walk in space sprits of gas from White's handheld maneuvering device thrust him in the desired direction are you ready me uh C [Applause] the floating object in the foreground is the astronaut's overlove left behind in the spacecraft I've exhaust the fuel now but I was able to maneuver myself the space back maneuvered right up back on the of the adapter just came back into his view the only thing I wish is I had for this is the greatest experience i' inist under in contrast to Ed White's successful minute walk in space the next three men to venture outside their spacecraft encountered unexpected difficulties although some useful work was accomplished including on one Mission the historic retrieval of a scientific experiment left behind on an earlier flight workloads were higher than anticipated the astronauts had trouble stabilizing themselves outside the spacecraft all three walks had to be terminated early yeah let me hang on to you I got rest here a minute though okay [Music] I'm I'm hanging on you right now you want be hang on the difficulties encountered on these missions POS profound problems for future space exploration I'm hanging on to you right now tight any let's go get that let me have some tether up oh okay I'm ready to let you go so another more careful and more tightly controlled test was prepared for gony 12 the last flight in the program prior to this flight astronaut Aldren trained intensively underwater pacing himself for his work in [Music] space okay good open the tasks assigned to him were designed to compare the difficulty of working in a weightless environment with work under normal [Music] gravity on J 12 the problem of excess workload was overcome by frequent rest periods and the use of improved body positioning restraints such as waist tethers hand holes and foot restraints [Applause] good sound good going to take the velro off extra vehicular activity has important applications to the lunar Mission Apollo Astronauts will leave their vehicle and install scientific equipment and collect samples on the surface of the Moon this requires experience working in pressure suits and Performing tasks in the near vacuum of space the success of Eva during geminy will also give Apollo Astronauts returning from the lunar surface the ability to board their Command Module even if they are faced with Docking difficulties let's see I think maybe I'll move this after the other ring that look a little [Music] better geminy provided more than 12 hours of experience in extra vehicular activity the training the caution the slow accumulation of facts paid off man can work in space on all geminy missions a major objective was to develop re-entry flight path and Landing control so the spacecraft could land at a specific place on Earth this required the de velopment of new techniques for guiding and controlling the re-entry of the spacecraft this is the view from the spacecraft window as gmany re-entered the Earth's atmosphere glowing particles boiled off the protective heat shield to leave an incandescent wake during geminy 10man spacecraft made this fiery re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere geminy 12 was the last its re-entry in November 1966 climax to program which will really have no end for gmany is Illuminating the [Music] future of first importance is the fact that Germany sent more men into space and kept them there longer gmany multiplied American man space flight experience 37 times there it is he I it TR of Houston we've got you on the boob you look [Music] good gmany an open program helped further promote International cooperation in space people in other nations not only witnessed geminy as it happened but also helped accomplish the program's objectives showing again the necessity for international cooperation in the peaceful exploration of [Music] [Applause] [Music] space gmany also leaves as its Legacy a greatly expanded science and technology proof that government industry and the scientific Community can work together to translate man's boldest dreams into [Music] action in the front ranks of the bearers of gin's Legacy are the as auts themselves these veterans are now ready to face the challenge of [Music] Apollo Apollo with its new questions new problems and longer more difficult voyages but after geminy one question no longer need be asked now we know it can be done [Music] interesting story thousands of Americans helped make the geminy program a success an example of one of the spacecraft systems is the fuel cell it was used to generate electricity for use on the ship fuel cells use a fuel and an oxidizer to generate electricity they do it quietly efficiently without rotating Machinery or pollution the cells on Gemini used hydrogen and oxygen fuel cells are now being developed and evaluated for possible use in groundbased electric power generating systems during the next program in our series we'll see men orbit the Moon for the first time until then this is Jim brunett saying goodbye from NASA's Lewis Research Center in Cleveland Ohio [Music] [Music] w [Applause]