Jun 3 1966
From The Space Library
June 3-6: NASA's GEMINI IX spacecraft, with Astronauts Thomas P. Stafford as command pilot and Eugene A. Cernan, pilot, was successfully launched from ETR by Titan II booster on GEMINI IX-A mission to evaluate extravehicular life-support and maneuvering equipment and procedures, and to rendezvous and dock with Augmented Target Docking Adapter (ATDA), launched from ETR June 1. Initial orbit: 174-mi. (280-km.) apogee; 99-mi. (159-km.) perigee; 90-min. period; and 30ø inclination. At T-3 ground communications system malfunction which had postponed June 1 launch recurred, but alternate procedures proved satisfactory and countdown continued. At 49 min. GET Stafford executed first course correction to position GEMINI IX for rendezvous, firing thruster rockets to raise perigee to 134 mi. After two more orbital maneuvers, spacecraft was within 25 ft. of target. Stafford, sighting ATDA, confirmed suspicions that its shroud had not jettisoned, and docking would be impossible. He radioed ground control: "It looks like an angry alligator out there." NASA later revealed that shroud had not jettisoned because technicians, following "insufficiently detailed" written instructions, had installed lanyards improperly. Complying with modified flight plan, astronauts photographed ATDA, executed re-rendezvous maneuver, and executed rendezvous-from above simulating Lunar Excursion Module (LEM) abort from the moon. After this maneuver, which depleted fuel supply to 11%-only 6% more than minimum reserve-Stafford and Cernan were fatigued and recommended 24-hr. postponement of Cernan's walk in space.
At 11:02 a.m. EST June 5, Cernan opened hatch of depressurized spacecraft, climbed out, and retrieved micrometeoroid impact detector attached to side. He moved to full length of 25-ft. tether to take photos. After one hour, Cernan returned to Adapter Section to don Astronaut Maneuvering Unit (AMU)-a task which required "four or five times more work than anticipated." His faceplate visor began clouding over, presumably because environmental control system was not absorbing moisture quickly enough. Cernan's limited visibility and discovery that AMU's radio transmissions were garbled forced Stafford to recall him to spacecraft. He had been scheduled to disconnect from GEMINI IX's oxygen supply and maneuver in AMU to 150 ft. from spacecraft. Reentry on June 6 was normal. At 10:00 a.m. EST, in the 46th revolution, GEMINI IX impacted 345 mi. east of Cape Kennedy-less than two miles from target-in the most accurate landing to date, after total mission duration of 72 hrs. 21 min. Splashdown and recovery were carried on live television via EARLY BIRD 1 comsat. Within minutes, USN pararescue team, dropped from helicopters, placed flotation collar around spacecraft. At 10:45 a.m. EST, spacecraft carrying astronauts was hoisted onboard U.S.S. [Weightless Analysis Sounding Probe|WASP]]. Accomplishments of GEMINI IX-A mission were summarized by. Dr. George E. Mueller, NASA Associate Administrator for Manned Space Flight, at MSC news conference: (1) demonstration of three new rendezvous procedures-catching target in only three revolutions, locating it without radar, and approaching it from above rather than below; (2) accurately controlled reentry; (3) longest period of extravehicular activities-over two hours; (4) new information on man's ability to work in space necessary for manned lunar landing and for assembling stations in space; and (5) new information on manned observation of another spacecraft in orbit. Five experiments were successfully performed in accordance with modified flight plan. Concerning mission's disappointments, he said: "We will try to do as much as we can on each of our Gemini flights. We won't always succeed in meeting all of the objectives. But we learned a great deal about the problems that do occur during the course of one of these very difficult space missions." (NASA Proj. Off.; NASA Release 66-97; Wilford, NYT, 6/4/66, 1, 10; 6/5/66, 1, 80; 6/6/66, 1, 40; 6/7/66, 1, 34; 6/8/66, 1,29; Hines, Wash. Eve. Star, 6/4/66, A1, A2; 6/5/66, A1, A6; 6/6/66,. Al, A4; 6/7/66, A3; Simons, Wash. Post, 6/4/66, A1, A8; 6/5/66, A1, A14; 6/6/66, A1, A3; 6/7/66, A1, A7, A21; 6/8/66, A3; WSJ, 6/7/66, 2; 6/8/66, 1; Tech. Wk., 6/13/66, 14-15; Av. Wk., 6/13/66)
Gemini Titan 9 Commentary flight transcript
Gemini Titan 9 Commentary flight transcript
Gemini Titan 9 Composite flight transcript
Gemini Titan 9 Commentary flight transcript
USAF launched two unidentified satellites from WTR with Atlas-Agena D booster. (U.S. Aeron. & Space Act., 1966, 151)
Lockheed Aircraft Corp. signed agreement with Junkers of Munich, Germany, to "provide technical consultation, perform design work . . . and provide components" for ESRO's Highly Eccentric Orbiting Satellite (HEOS) -first to be designed and developed in Germany-to investigate charged particles in space and the effects of magnetic fields on them. Overall contract for satellite, which would be launched by NASA into elliptical orbit in late 1968, was $5.5 million, with Lockheed's services valued at $500,000. (Lockheed Release)
Accumulating geochronologic evidence which "indicates more and more convincingly that tektites were formed from terrestrial rocks in large meteoritic impacts on the earth" was reported in Science by Henry Faul. He said exact process of tektite formation remained a mystery, but that age measurements were beginning to show "where" this formation occurred and could ultimately invalidate the lunar origin hypothesis. (Faul, Science, 6/3/66, 1341-5)
GEMINI IV Astronaut Edward H. White II and GEMINI VII Astronaut Frank Borman received National Aviation Club's Award for Achievement in Washington, D.C. (Wash. Eve. Star, 6/3/66)
Edgar G. Bush, senior technician at GSFC since 1959 and designer of first micro-electronic circuitry used for flight computers, died of a heart ailment. Bush had designed computers for VANGUARD III, Explorer satellites, and Lunar Orbiters. (Wash. Eve. Star, 6/7/66, B5)
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