Episode 54: Project Gemini, Part VI

The more I think about taking a spacewalk, the more the idea appeals to me, but some that appeal likely stems from the fact that astronauts have space walking down to a science. I can't imagine the early spacewalks which everyone hoped would turn out okay without having worked out all the kinks. The Gemini 9A space walk was very touch and go and in the uncertainty mission commander Tom Stafford thought up a plan that would leave no man behind but would have resulted in both his and fellow astronaut Gene Cernan's deaths. Fortunately, they were able to avoid that scenario.

Despite the exertion of his spacewalk, Cernan was able to snape some photos, including this wide angle of Tom Stafford looking out the Gemini 9A porthole back at him.

And like all good Gemini missions, there were multiple things that went wrong this 9A - above is the "angry alligator" the described to mission control. 

The Gemini 9A mission insignia is in the shape of a shield and shows the Gemini spacecraft docked to the Agena (which turned out to be wishful thinking [thanks angry alligator!]). It includes a spacewalking astronaut, with his tether forming the shape of the number 9. Although the Gemini 9 mission was changed to the newer docking craft when it became 9A, the patch was not changed.

The Gemini 10 insignia is simple in design but highly symbolic. The main feature is the large Roman number X with a Gemini and Agena orbiting around it. The two stars have a variety of meanings: the two rendezvous attempts, Castor and Pollux in the Gemini constellation, or the two crew members. This is one of the few patched without the crew's name. It is able to be displayed upside down but is correctly shown with the spacecraft to the right. It was designed by crew member John Young's then-wife Barbara.

Since Gemini XI astronauts Pete Conrad and Dick Gordon were both in the Navy, the patch was designed in the US Navy's colors of blue and gold. Stars are used to mark major milestone in the mission. The first orbit Agena rendezvous is marked by a small gold star just above the Earth, to the left. The Agena docking is marked by a large star on the left. The star at the top marks the record high apogee reached by Gemini 11 (note that the scale is greatly exaggerated. Their maximum altitude of 850 miles [1360 kilometers] is roughly the distance form St Louis to Cape Kennedy). Finally, the star on the right marks Gordon's spacewalk. The docking, record apogee, and spacewalk are also shown on the patch by the Agena, orbital apogee path, and spacewalking astronaut.

The insignia's orange and black color scheme are a link to the flight's original schedule near Halloween, before being pushed to mid-November. The Roman number XII is located at the 12 o'clock position with the Gemini spacecraft pointing to it. This represents the position of Gemini 12 as the last flight of Project Gemini. With the Apollo Program following this final Gemini flight, the ultimate objective - the moon - is symbolized by the crescent on the left.

Ranger 3 was the first of the Ranger lunar probes planned to photograph the lunar surface, close up, before crash landing to help determine if landing on the moon was possible. Rangers 3-6 all failed.

Lessons learned from the failured lead to an overhaul of the Ranger 7-9 design.

This is the first image returned from Ranger 7 in 1964. The large crater at the center is Alphonsus.

The final image from Ranger 7 was taken from an altitude of 1600 feet (about 490 meters), which revealed features as small as 15 inches (or 38 centimeters) across. The noise pattern on the right is the result of the spacecraft impacting the surface of the moon while transmitting the image. 

 

On March 24, 1965, a nationwide TV audience watched live video from Ranger 9 as it purposefully crashed into the moon within the crater Alphonsus. Ranger's six cameras sent back more than 5800 video images during the last last 18 minutes of its 3-day journey, the last of the Ranger Project. The last few images show the lunar surface in detail from a few humdred meters above.

*UPDATE* This was an exciting time for NASA, but it was not without its risks. The first astronaut to be interred at Arlington didn't die in a launch accident or in space, rather, he was killed by a bird strike when a goose hit the jet he was piloting in foggy weather. In his final act, Air Force Captain Theodore Cordy "Ted" Freeman made sure he wouldn't crash into military housing which caused him to eject too late for his parachute to deploy. He never made it to space, but died a hero nonetheless. 

Captain Freeman is interred in Section 4, Grave 3148

Episode 53: Project Gemini, Part V

With the passage of time, the details fade, and it can be easy to think that the early days of the space race were routine and ordinary. The truth is, Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo astronauts put thier lives on the line for every space flight - and some training sessions, too. The truth is, astronatus today do the same thing. Neil Armstrong and David Scott, both space rookies, flew the Gemini 8 misison and did something no one had successfully done before - they docked with another object orbiting Earth. 27 minutes later, they nearly died. 

Elliot See and Charlie Bassett were tapped to fly Gemini 9, but a few weeks before Gemini 8 flew, they both died when poor visibility and pilot error caused their twin seat T-38 jet to crash on approach in St. Louis, Missiouri. There are a lot of quotes out there by astronatus who recognize the risks they take, while acknowledging that it is impossible to have progress without risk. Gus Grissom, the second American in space said, "If we die, we want people to accept it. We're in a risky business, and we hope that if anything happens to us, it will not depay the program. The conquest of space is worth the risk of life." The prescience of that quote is unmistakable.  

Both See and Bassett were laid to rest in Arlington National Cemetery. Bassett in Section 4, Grave 195 and See in Section 4 Grave 208.

The Gemini 8 insignia was co-designed by both Armstrong and Scott. The text at the bottom had the zodiacal symbol for Gemini () and the Roman numeral for the number eight. The two stars Castor and Pollux, from the constellation Gemini and also included and are refracting light through a prisim casting a rainbow which represents the whole spectrum of light, symbolic of the whole spectrum of the planned Gemini 8 mission before it was unexpectedly cut about 65 hours short. 

Since 1959, NASA has inducted 23 classes of astronauts. Most classes since Group 8 (1978) have designed a group patch and I figured with all our talk of patches the last two espisodes, I should showcase those here

Gorup 8 (1978) - The TFNGs (or Thirty-Five New Guys)

Group 9 (1980) - 19+80

Group 10 (1984) - The Maggots

Group 11 (1985) - No Nickname

Group 12 (1987) - The GAFFers (George Abby Final Fifteen)

The Rejected Insignia for Group 13 - They wanted to use a black cat to play off the unlucky 13 supersticion.

The approved insignia for Group 13 (1990) - The Hairballs

Group 14 (1992) - The Hogs

Group 15 (1995) - Flying Escargot

Group 16 (1996) - The Sardines

Group 17 (1998) - The Penguins

Group 18 (2000) - The Bugs

Group 19 (2004) - The Peacocks

Group 20 (2009) - The Chumps

Group 21 (2013) - The 8 Balls

Group 22 (2017) - The Turtles

(Note: A nickname and pact for 2020's group 23 is still forthcoming)

Episode 52: Project Gemini, Part IV

 

When Gemini 6 flew within 1 inch (or 30 centimeters) of Gemini 7, it was the closest two vessels had ever been to each other in space. Pilot Wally Schirra said he was able to get so close thanks to the lack of turbulence in space. After getting into position, Schirra realized he had used much less fuel than he thought he would so he took the time to fly literally circles around his colleagues in the Gemini 7 capsule. The Rendezvous was also aired on live TV (I've posted a video of the rendezvous below - I start it at the time of the rendezvous but if you want to see the launch of Gemini 6A, back the viedo up to the beginning).

After the Rendezvous and splashdown, the recovery of the crew by the sailors on the USS Wasp was the first astronaut recovery shown on live TV (the video of the recovery also includes the splashdown. I've have it set to start with the recovery but if you want to see the splashdown, back it up to the beginning).

And now, for the promised Gemini mission patches

This was the first of two retroactivly designed mission patches after the Gemini 5 patch was designed. The Gemini 3 insignia consided of the Gamini 3 capsule after splashdown, awaiting recovery with the capsule name Molly Brown. The image and capsule name are surrounded by the name's of the two crew members.

This was the second of two retroactivly designed mission patches after the Gemini 5 patch was designed. The crew wanted to name their capsule American Eagle but NASA decided after Gus Grissom named his the Molly Brow, it was time they were no longer going to allow astronauts to name thier capsules. With that in mind, the Gemini 4 insignia is an eagle over the Gemini capsule, encircled by the Gemini 4 crew's names.

The first mission patch worn by a crew in space was Gemini 5's. It consisded of a conestoga wagon, due to the pioneering nature of the flight - staying in space for eight days - with the slogan 8 Days of Bust on the wagon cover. NASA managers objected to the slogan, fearing that if for any reason the mission had to be aborted before the eight day mark, the media and the public would condsider it a bust so a canvas was hand sewn on the patches the astronauts wore to cover the slogan, making it a true covered wagon.

Gemini 6's insignia used a hexangonal shape to reperesent the misison number and the spacecraft's trajectory also traces out the number 6. The spacecraft is shown superimposed on the twin stars Castor and Pollux from the constalletion Gemini. The second spacecraft on the patch represents Gemini 7, which Gemini 6 would rendezvous with.

The Gemini 7 misison insignia features an olympic torch to sympolize the marathon aspect of the 14-day mission. There is also a stylized Gemini capsule and a roman numeral 7. This is the first Gemini misison insignia to not feature its astronauts' names (though th enames were added to souvenir copies sold to the public. Gemini 9 and 10 would follow suit, but not 8.

Gemini 7's alternate crew also jokingly designed a patch, featuring an until torch, an offered a lighter, and the question, "Need a light - Frank? Jim?" 
    

Episode 51: Project Gemin, Part III

 

Astronaut Ed White was the first American to spacewalk as part of the Gemini IV misison June 3, 1965. This 20-minute jaunt outside the space capsule was the first time that still images were taken of a human operating in open space. White had so much fun during the walk that he had to be ordered to return to the capsule by misison commander James McDivitt and NASA Administrators (note the large US flag. This was the first time a national flag had been worn by space travelers)

Gemini IV was not NASA's first tandem mission, that honor went to Gemini III, with Command Pilot Gus Grissom and Pilot John Young.

The mission was Young's (left) first trip to space, while Grissom (right) became the first person to fly in space twice (though his initial trip was a suborbital ballistic flight), and paved the way for all NASA flights going forward, which would never contain just a single astronaut again.

Gemini III was important, but let's be honest, if you took the time to visit this site because you I said I put pictures (plural) of White's Gemini IV spacewalk, you want to see pictures (plural) of White's Gemini IV space walk. Here they are without further delay.

The space walk photographs, taken by astronaut James McDivitt, were seen around the would and graced many magazine covers, including Life which, as you may recall, had exclusivity agreements with NASA and the astronauts.