Legacy Of Gemini

[Music] hello I'm Jim Burnett of NASA's Lewis Research Center in Cleveland Ohio during this eight program in the history of space travel we'll see a film called legacy of Gemini it looks at a group 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 1965 this is Saturn five the rocket that will send three Americans toward the moon in project Apollo but this historic 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 eight-day flight to the moon and back could a man control the movements of his spacecraft rendezvous and dock with another vehicle orbiting the moon could he leave the protective cover of his spacecraft and perform useful work in space could he function effectively as an experimenter and use spaceflight to advance human 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 earth [Music] 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 Gemini program came into being as the necessary prelude to Apollo this is the story of Germany and its legacy to space flight on Germany training began on earth and in the atmosphere this specially designed airplane was flown hundreds of times on parabolic sweeps into the sky to provide the Gemini astronauts with brief periods of weightlessness here seconds at a time the difficulties of living in space were rehearsed [Music] working under zero gravity the Gemini 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 environment [Music] the Gemini astronauts took their equipment underwater balanced between sinking and rising they learn to pace themselves as they perform tasks and a condition that simulated longer periods of weightlessness [Music] in the translation docking simulator they got the feel of maneuvering their spacecraft into position for docking with another vehicle [Music] [Music] in the German emissions simulator they flew entire missions without leaving the ground here they learn to react quickly and correctly to problems fed to them through computers [Music] the Gemini astronauts exposed 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 [Music] water survival for landings in the ocean survival in desert and jungle but ultimately there was no substitute for being there Germany took the men and the tools and the problems into orbit in [Music] the 18 months between March 1965 and November 1966 ten manned missions were launched from Cape Kennedy sixteen astronauts journey to their spacecraft on launch pad 19 Virgil Grissom and John Young were first then James McDivitt and Edward white L Gordon Cooper and Charles Conrad Frank Borman and James Lovell Walter schirra Thomas Stafford Neil Armstrong David Scott Eugene Cernan and Michael Collins Richard Gordon Edwin Aldrin four of the Gemini astronauts made the trip twice together these men help thrust the United States into a new era of exploration [Music] Gemini was a single concept with a number of the science it was in a sense one launch one flight one recovery five or 10 second countdown Hey [Applause] [Music] space is infinite it heals slowly to exploration in their voyages into this environment the Gemini astronauts logged more than 1949 hours of flight hurtling through space at five miles a second they circled the earth six hundred times in there are 40 earth days in space they witnessed as few men have hundreds of sunsets on the changing horizons of our planet [Music] sweeping over continents in a matter of minutes they gained a new perspective of Earth [Music] for Gemini equipment and techniques were developed that enabled astronauts for the first time to maneuver their spacecraft to change their orbit to accelerate to new heights [Music] the first Gemini maneuvers were basic flying formation with the spent second stage of the Titan two rocket then a more difficult step rendezvous finding and approaching another craft in space for the first target for Monday vu was another a manned spacecraft Gemini 6 approached within one foot of Gemini 7 rendezvous a major landmark in the history of manned flight aboard Gemini 7 astronaut Foreman prepares to take motion pictures of Gemini 6 as the two spacecraft begin their station-keeping exercise 10 monday vows were accomplished during the Gemini program the techniques buried for this maneuver is important to project Apollo the lunar module on returning from the surface of the Moon must run they will and dock with the command and service module in Gemini conditions of lunar orbit were simulated in Earth orbit and confidence for Apollo grew [Music] [Applause] [Music] on four of the Gemini missions the rendezvous target was the Agena space vehicle during the program the Gemini astronauts located and docked with the Agena x' 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 back [Applause] [Music] as the spacecraft moved in docking lights aboard the vehicle helped guide the pilot during the final stages of the manoeuvre but not everything always went according to plan on Gemini 8 a thruster failed causing excessive yaw and roll unable to find the source of trouble command pilot Armstrong undocked the roll rate accelerated reaching an alarming one revolution per second but Armstrong fought and won his struggle to regain control and he brought Gemini 8 to a safe landing [Music] on Gemini 9 when an Atlas rocket failed placed the Agena into orbit a substitute docking target was launched trouble developed on the new target when its shroud failed to separate leaving what the astronauts quickly named the angry alligator although the docking maneuver had to be canceled the flight plan was revised so the astronauts could go on to practice rendezvous two more times developing faith and their ability to cope with adversity and to learn from the unexpected [Applause] on two missions the Gemini astronauts actually assembled a new spacecraft in orbit the combined the Gina and Gemini after docking they commanded the Agena to restart its own rocket engine [Music] on one mission this space build vehicle was flown to a record altitude of 851 miles from their vantage point in space the astronauts had a spectacular view of our planet [Music] although flight experience was the primary objective of Gemini the program offered a unique space laboratory to science medicine and technology more than 50 experiments were carried on the Gemini 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 two thousand photographs were taken from space during the Gemini program these pictures are being used to correct maps and to provide oceanographers geologists and geographers with new information about the earth [Music] the Gemini 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 world the astronomical science is also benefited from Gemini 4 the orbiting spacecraft enables scientists to send instruments far above the blanket of atmosphere which filters and obscures a variety of phenomena on Gemini 12 an eclipse of the Sun was photographed for the first time from space the results of scientific research conducted on Gemini have been made available to the world not only helping to advance man's knowledge but promoting a greater measure of understanding among nations three of the man Germany missions were flown to investigate the problems of long-duration spaceflight Yemeni four was a four-day mission Germany five eight days on Gemini 7 astronauts Lovell 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 paved the way for project Apollo [Music] using the Agena space vehicle the astronauts also experimented with a new technique for holding their spacecrafts attitude fixed with respect to the earth normally this requires the continuous use of fuel but on two missions a Dacron tether was attached between the spacecraft and the Agena [Music] [Applause] Magina 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 future space missions [Music] perhaps the most spectacular experiment of the Gemini program was extra vehicular activity astronaut ed white made the first American walk in space spritz of gas from White's handheld maneuvering device thrust him in the desired direction floating object in the foreground is the astronauts over glove left behind in the spacecraft in contrast to ed white successful 20-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 [Music] the difficulties encountered on these missions posed profound problems for future space exploration okay so another more careful and more tightly controlled test was prepared for Gemini 12 the last flight in the program higher to this flight astronaut Aldrin trained intensively under water pacing himself for his work in space [Music] [Applause] the tasks assigned to him were designed to compare the difficulty of working in a weightless environment with work under normal gravity On January 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 on foot restraints [Applause] [Music] 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 EDA during Gemini 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 [Applause] [Music] jiminee 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 German emissions a major objective was to develop re-entry flight paths and landing control so the spacecraft could land at a specific place on earth this required the development of new techniques for guiding and controlling the re-entry of the spacecraft this is the view from the spacecraft window as Germany re-entered the Earth's atmosphere blowing particles boiled off the protective heat shield to leave an incandescent wake during Gemini 10 man's spacecraft made this fiery re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere yemeni 12 was the last it's reentry in november 1966 climaxed a program which will really have no end for Gemini is illuminating the future [Music] of first importance is the fact that Germany sent more men into space and kept them there longer Germany multiplied American manned spaceflight experience 37 times [Music] [Applause] we've got you on the boom - you look good [Music] Gemini an open program helps further promote international cooperation in space people in other nations not only witness Germany as it happened but also helped accomplish the program's objectives showing again the necessity for international cooperation in the peaceful exploration of space Gemini 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 action [Music] in the front ranks of the bearers of Germany's legacy are the astronauts themselves these veterans are now ready to face the challenge of a power [Music] with its new questions new problems and longer more difficult voyages what after Gemma knee one question no longer need the acid now we know it can be done [Music] interesting story thousands of Americans helped make the Gemini program a success an example of one of these 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 ground-based 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 Burnett saying goodbye from NASA's Lewis Research Center in Cleveland Ohio [Music] [Music]