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