61 years of Gemini IV: remember the mission that intensified the space race
The Gemini IV mission turns 61 this Wednesday (3). The flight was launched on June 3, 1965 and took astronauts James McDivitt and Edward White on a four-day journey in Earth orbit, one of the most decisive in the space race. The mission included the first American spacewalk, a milestone that placed the United States in a more balanced position in the technological dispute with the Soviet Union.
Gemini IV was the second manned mission of the Gemini Program. The main objective was to evaluate the performance of the astronauts and the capsule on longer flights, in addition to testing procedures and planning even longer missions.
White left the capsule at 2:46 pm (Brasília time) on June 3, 1965, becoming the first American to walk in space. It was connected to the ship by an eight-meter cable and used a manual gas thruster to move, as the equipment's fuel ran out in three minutes. After that, White pulled the cable and turned his body to move around the ship.
The extravehicular activity lasted 23 minutes. Upon returning, the crew had difficulty sealing the hatch, but managed to close it by working together.
In total, the mission completed 62 orbits around the Earth and lasted 97 hours, 56 minutes and 12 seconds. The capsule landed in the Western Atlantic on June 7, 1965, and was recovered by the aircraft carrier USS Wasp. The four-day journey broke the previous American record of 34 hours spent in space during the Mercury 9 mission.
11 experiments were carried out during the flight, in the areas of engineering, medicine, space sciences and defense. All were completed successfully. The only objective not met was the rendezvous - controlled approach with the rocket's upper stage -, canceled after 42% of the fuel was consumed at the beginning of the mission, to preserve other operations.
The historical context and protagonists
The mission took place in the middle of the Cold War. Just three months earlier, in March 1965, Soviet cosmonaut Alexei Leonov had performed the first spacewalk in history, extending the USSR's lead in the race for space. Gemini IV demonstrated that the Americans were capable of sustaining longer duration flights and carrying out activities outside the capsule - essential capabilities for the future mission to the Moon.
James McDivitt, mission commander, would return to space as commander of Apollo 9 in 1969, when he piloted the first complete flight of the Apollo set, including the lunar module. In total, McDivitt logged more than 14 days in space before retiring from NASA in 1972. He was awarded two NASA Distinguished Service Medals and the NASA Exceptional Service Medal. McDivitt died in his sleep in October 2022. According to NASA, the former astronaut was surrounded by his family and friends.
Astronaut James A. McDivitt. - Don Uhrbrock/The Chronicle Collection/Getty Images
Edward White was selected to crew the first Apollo mission. He died on January 27, 1967, in the Apollo 1 fire, during a ground test at Cape Kennedy, along with astronauts Gus Grissom and Roger Chaffee.
The flight was launched on June 3, 1965 and took astronauts James McDivitt and Edward White on a four-day journey in Earth orbit - among the most decisive of the space race - Credits: NASA
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Source: CNN