Americans referred to fades of Discovery
cleared the tower
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
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's seconds at a time the
difficulties of living in space were
rehearsed 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
the Gemini astronauts took their
equipment underwater balanced between
sinking and rising
they learned to pace themselves as they
perform tasks in a condition that
simulated longer periods of
weightlessness
in the translation and docking simulator
they got the feel of maneuvering their
spacecraft into position for docking
with another vehicle
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
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
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
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 Albert four of the
Gemini astronauts made the trip twice
together these men helped thrust the
United States into a new era of
exploration
Gemini was a single concept with a
number of assignments it was in a sense
one launch one flight one recovery
five four tickets countdown dance all
right eight seven six five Oh
ow
space is infinite it heals slowly to
exploration in their voyages into this
environment the Gemini astronauts logged
more than 1940 man hours of flight
hurtling through space at five miles a
second they circled the earth six
hundred times in their forty birthdays
in space they witnessed as few men have
hundreds of sunsets on the changing
horizons of our planet
sweeping over continents in a matter of
minutes they gained a new perspective of
earth 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
the first Gemini maneuvers were basic
flying formation with the spent second
stage of the Titan to rocket then a more
difficult step
rendezvous finding and approaching
another craft in space the first target
for Monday who was another 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
Germany 6 as the two spacecraft begin
their station-keeping exercise
10 rendevouz were accomplished during
the Gemini program the techniques varied
for this maneuver is important to
project Apollo the lunar module on
returning from the surface of the Moon
must rendezvous and dock with the
command and service module in Gemini
conditions of lunar orbit were simulated
in Earth orbit and confidence for Apollo
crew
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 where the
Apollo astronauts will dock twice on
their journey from the earth to the moon
and back
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 undock
the roll rate accelerated reaching an
alarming one revolution for second but
Armstrong fought and won his struggle to
regain control and he brought Gemini 8
to a safe landing on Gemini 9 when an
Atlas rocket failed to place 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
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 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
although flight experience was the
primary objective of Germany the program
offered a unique space laboratory to
science medicine and technology more
than 50 experiments were carried on the
Germany spacecraft
many were repeated on several flights
one experiment was photography of the
earth masked areas never seen by man in
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
the Gemini astronauts also use their
cameras to photograph cloud patterns and
other atmospheric phenomena this works
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 Germany for 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 Yemeni missions were
flown to investigate the problems of
long-duration spaceflight Yemeni four
was a four-day mission
Germany five eight days on gemenese
seven astronauts Lovell and Borman spent
two weightless weeks in space
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
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 day
chrome tether was attached between the
spacecraft and the Agena
slightly nearer the earth was pulled
more strongly by gravity than what the
spacecraft this small difference was
enough to stabilise the vehicles so they
could maintain their position without
use of fuel this technique has important
implications for future space missions
perhaps the most spectacular experiment
of the Gemini program was extra
vehicular activity astronaut ed white
made the first American walk in space
spurts of gas from whites 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
difficulties encountered on these
missions posed profound problems for
future space exploration
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 the tasks assigned
to him were designed to compare the
difficulty of working in a weightless
environment with work under normal
gravity
on jeongeun's well 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
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 EBA 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
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 reentry of
the spacecraft this is the view from the
spacecraft window as Germany we entered
the Earth's atmosphere
glowing particles boiled off the
protective heat shield to leave an
incandescent wait
during Gemini 10 man's spacecraft made
this fiery re-entry into the Earth's
atmosphere
Germany 12 was the last its reentry in
November 1966 climaxed a program which
will really have no end for Germany is
illuminating the future
our first importance is the fact that
gemenese sent more men into space and
kept them there longer Germany
multiplied American manned spaceflight
experience 37 times
we've got you on the boom to feel good
Gemelli an open program helped further
promote international cooperation and
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
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 Apollo
Apolo with its new questions new
problems and longer more difficult
voyages what after gem knee one question
no longer need the s now we know it can
be done
you