Gemini IX-A Onboard Footage with Narration from Post-Flight Press Conference

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@mikesanservino8306 6 жыл бұрын

Gene was a buddy of my father (they grew up together) and was a good man and an excellent aviator and astronaut. There were some lessons learned from this flight that allowed future flights to EVA in a much more controlled and less strenuous way. Future suit designs, and maneuvering unit and life support designs ALL evolved from lessons learned from this flight. Gene was only the second American to walk in space (Ed White was first), and most people don't appreciate the fact that EVERY flight, they learned new things in the early days of space. EVA's these days are with rigid torso section suits, backpacks with much better environmental control systems, much better ability for flexation of the suit joints and many more hand and foot holds. That is EXACTLY why they flew these missions...to LEARN what to to, what designs work and what designs don't work. Gene passed away a few years ago. We lost a fine and honorable man.

@sonnyburnett8725 3 жыл бұрын

His book “Last Man” was a great read and very open and informative. So much so that his description of his EVA on GT-9 when trying to reach the AMU/MMU was so wonderfully descriptive in its detail that one, as a long time fan I had never been aware of these events, and secondly, while reading it I became so involved in all the problems he was experiencing I became uncertain for a moment whether he would be successful in getting back to the cockpit. Now that’s a wonderful story teller. Over the decades that followed his retirement I never ceased to be impressed with his untiring desire to travel and speak to as many people as possible in support of this nations manned space program and it’s importance. Then again, it’s clear all the men selected for these early flights were incredible, each in his own way.

@zelmoziggy 2 жыл бұрын

Lucky for him that Slayton covered up for him after he crashed his helicopter.

@5Andysalive 5 жыл бұрын

Love that Cernan always could take a little break from the technical aspects to appreciate the beauty of a situation.

@mickobrien3156 2 жыл бұрын

It would be funny if we caught him saying.... this is really disappointing. This view stinks. I wanna just go home.... "Gene, we're recording here..." "Yes yes, oh, boy the beauty..."

@StuPadazzo 10 жыл бұрын

It was very clear from this Press Conference that the astronauts were either "told" to say, "everything was fine", and "the work load was too light" and, "I was feeling fine", OR they were extremely careful with everything they said to make sure they didn't say anything that might make NASA and Air Force directors think they were weak candidates for future flights if they showed ANY sign of weakness or trouble. Because they had a horrible time with this EVA. Almost everything went wrong. The suit's cooling system was insufficient and caused Cernan's visor to completely fog up right from the start - to Cernan's racing heartrate that nearly caused them to abort the EVA - to the suit being SO stiff he could barely move causing extreme exhaustion. In fact, the suit was so restrictive and Cernan was SO tired by the end of the EVA that there was genuine concern that they weren't going to be able to get him back inside the capsule for reentry. As well, Cernan broke off an experimental antennae on the capsule during his EVA. The bright side was that due to all these failures of this EVA they gained a HUGE amount of information that made future EVAs much more improved. In all honesty they probably gained MORE experience from the failures of Gemini IX than if everything had gone smoothly. So it was a good thing in my opinion. Just found it funny how, to the press, "everything was fine".

@victorlange4073 9 жыл бұрын

+StuPadazzo This is from a while back, but I don 't think they were told to say anything particular at all. This is a manifestation of test-pilot culture. Talking to people while working at Edwards, if a vehicle has not crashed everything is still "fine" no matter what else is going on. Part of that is just mental control...they can't afford to allow any degree of fear to enter the situation. Plus, as you say, they were learning.

@brianarbenz7206 6 жыл бұрын

Everything was fine as in, I'm sitting here, just fine. All's well that ends well.

@5Andysalive 6 жыл бұрын

One thing you do NOT do as a test pilot is lying about the machine. It defeats the point of a test. Of course that's not the case in a public press conference. You try to look professional and adress the actual issues behind closed doors. Also the heart rates were there. So Nasa knew very well that he was in trouble. The fogged visor wasn't Cernans fault. And i assume outside of press conferences the debriefing was a lot more explicit. And if you listen to the actual com, or transcript, they talked about that. Very interesting to read about Gemini IX in Gene Kranzes book. Some Nasa higherups were even considering either ramming the shroud (that was Staffords idea) or doing an EVA fixing it. That was NOT Staffords idea. The first was rejected, the second one the Astronauts effectively refused to do. Given the later normal EVA that was probably a wise decision.

@mrkeogh 5 жыл бұрын

@@5Andysalive Was their objection that they couldn't risk any remaining explosive bolts firing during an attempted repair and damaging either their suits or the capsule?

@PAULLONDEN 4 жыл бұрын

*@StuPadazzo* These guys weren't smooth media manipulators ......Mercury and Gemini were mostly wild flights .......For these guys , short of crashing ......."everything *was* fine"......... Amazing !

@dalethelander3781 2 жыл бұрын

The problem with the ATDA shroud was that prior to launch, a McDonnell tech wanted to install something on the shroud and when he got to the top of the rollaway service structure, NASA techs told him that was THEIR department and THEY'D install the part. Obviously, it was installed improperly.

@shoppingscarce2681 4 жыл бұрын

Watching shroud ejections these days and considering the aerodynamics of the angry alligator maybe it's dumb luck but it seems like that could have turned the AGTV into a pinwheel. "dumb luck" as in lack of knowledge where the weight of the shroud could be shed earliest - it's not like the AGTV had solar panels like Skylab for instance, just a target.

@AfzalCassim 9 жыл бұрын

Blast from the past!

@CCCPMetalWarrior 10 жыл бұрын

I love you GENE!!

@Zoomer30 7 жыл бұрын

This is what we call "spin" New Conference: Everything was fine Reality : Cernans heart rate was pushing 170 and he was sweating so much his visor fogged up. It's incredibly exhausting just trying to stay still during a EVA.

@5Andysalive 6 жыл бұрын

It's called PR. You don't shout (as publicly funded agency) in a public press conference that you had a near disaster. You adress these issues seriously behind closed doors. That's what Nasa did. check what went wrong, fix it, try it again, then fix it. more. Until "Buzz Aldrin single-handedly invented EVA." Not because he was brilliant as he claimed, but because they had learned and fixed a LOT by then (Gemini 12). There is (almost) live CBS coverage kzbin.info/www/bejne/qITTZ6N-d7uXY80 including all the difficulties and the heart rates etc. The full extend of the difficulties probably weren't known publically at the time. Cernan gave a detailed account probabaly internally and later in his book. But assuming nobody did realise it, is also silly. The space program was closely followed and in full view of the public. Hiding stuff completely wasn't possible. . historycollection.jsc.nasa.gov/JSCHistoryPortal/history/mission_trans/GT09A2_T.PDF is the transcript. That includes the onboard audio from the tape recorder as well, so it gives you a much better insight. But even there they were cool, calm and serious. Press conference or not, they were not for shouting, drama and panic. EVA starts at around 49:00:00

@PAULLONDEN 4 жыл бұрын

Amazing !! This is a prime example that space travel is mostly a case of controlled free fall.

@brianarbenz7206 6 жыл бұрын

I had long read that the failure of the ATDA to close up properly -- creating the "angry alligator" look -- was embarrassing flop. But Gene and Tom describe the lessons from the rendevous as valuable for the moon missions. Public relations putting a good face on a failure? Or an outcome that was not really a complete failure?

@5Andysalive 6 жыл бұрын

The EVA was a failure. That you do learn from it doesn't change that. But that's why you test things. But the several rendevouz, which were also a mission target, were a full success.

@mikesanservino8306 6 жыл бұрын

The ATDA wasn't supposed to close up, the shroud was to have been discarded completely but the retaining strap that was supposed to have been severed by explosive cutters failed to separate and as such, the "jaws" remained in place. It's obvious that had the white reflective shroud been gone, it would have been much more difficult to have seen the ATDA. Look at the ATDA in many of the shots and the shroud is FAR more observable than the rest of the body of the spacecraft.

@niallmccaffrey791 5 жыл бұрын

Not a complete failure, since that was just one of many mission goals. But a disappointment to be sure.

@wardenphil 5 жыл бұрын

It is interesting how they say white was easier to see than silver. The Block 1 Apollo Command Module was painted matte white....But for Block 2, which actually went to the moon, they went to silver.

@lukestrawwalker 2 жыл бұрын

That was for thermal control purposes... the Skylab Apollo capsules were white on one side and silver (mirrored Kapton) on the other. The reason is, white is THE most reflective color, while silver can appear "mirrored" its actually darker in color than white thus has more absorption of heat. Heat works a little different in space than on Earth-- I mean the laws of thermodynamics are the same, BUT in a pure vacuum "black body" radiation (re-radiated heat) becomes a much bigger factor, and thermal transfer and equilibrium in vacuum is far different than we experience being immersed in Earth's atmosphere... in microgravity there is also no convection-- hot air does not rise, and cold air does not sink, because there is no buoyancy effect due to the difference in density between hot and cold fluids (air or water or any other liquid). Gravity pulling on a denser, therefore "heavier" fluid is what causes the buoyancy effect that creates convection currents on Earth.... heavier cooler air sinks down and pushes up lighter less dense warmer air. In space, the temperature in sunlight is about 250 degrees, and in darkness about -200... there is air in the vacuum to absorb and "moderate" the heat like there is on Earth, or carry the heat away and distribute it between sunlit surfaces and those in darkness, plus the air acts like a "sponge" to soak up a given amount of heat. In space, things only cool down by RADIATING the heat away as infrared radiation, and only warm up by absorbing infrared radiation. Hence the difference in temperature. In addition, even on the nightside of Earth, Earth itself glows like a hot coal as the heat of the day radiates away slowly into space... This heat loading is part of the things that have to be accounted for when designing thermal control systems for spacecraft, so they don't overheat or freeze solid. Later! OL J R :)

@wardenphil 2 жыл бұрын

@@lukestrawwalker The Skylab Version CM had a black stripe on the +Z Axis (facing the Earth).

@wardenphil 2 жыл бұрын

@@lukestrawwalker And when they started doing EVAs, they went from a silver to a white spacesuit outer cover.

@dalethelander3781 2 жыл бұрын

@@wardenphil Those were the outer coverings of the Gemini G4C suits, used on every mission except Gemini 7 which used the flexible G5C suits that Borman and Lovell hated. Apollo One would've used G4C suits with a hard shell bolted onto the helmets to protect the lexan faceplates when raised.

@5Andysalive 5 жыл бұрын

it's a great irony, given the later difficulties in their "normal" EVA that some at Nasa had the idea Cernan could go out, move to the stuck but spring loaded and sharp edged Alligator Shroud and try to open them manually... Which the Astronauts pretty much refused (or delayed the decision indefinitely). and Gene Kranz (in his book) thought absolute lunacy.

@scowell 4 жыл бұрын

The background... that's why the best rendesvous is from below.

@ceezb5629 3 жыл бұрын

How come you can't see stars in space or from the moon? And if so, why was the Parker Solar probe that brushed the Sun's atmosphere able to see stars (milky way)?

@lukestrawwalker 2 жыл бұрын

Why can't you see stars during the daytime on Earth?? They're there all the time... answer-- too much daylight. Later! OL J R :)

@juancarlostelleztellez5731 4 жыл бұрын

at 14.57 mark min you will find a rock or an object entering the atmosphere of the earth very fast......

@softb 3 жыл бұрын

unfortunately probably an artifact of the old camera, especially when you know what radiation does to tapes also btw if an object was entering at that speed, that low, you'd probably see some plasma from reentry, this specific mission btw was at an altitude of 272-274 ap-pe for instance the iss has an altitude of 418-419 ap-pe, and it needs to boost it's orbit now and then due to the drag caused by the air particles. furthermore those cameras are the Maurer 70 mm gemini, which have very low frame rate compared to today, it'd be impossible to see this a proof of that was a manhole cover probably shot into space, It was used as one for an underground nuclear test, and is probably the fastest manmade object to this day,(interstellar objects are way faster than that manhole, 17,9km/s for that mysterious black spot or 11.18km/s for the manhole.) the cameras couldn't catch it, note that the test was from 1958, the gemini program ended in 1966. hope I answered the question :)

@GamingAmbienceLive 8 жыл бұрын

*So it's "Gemin-[ee]" not "Gemin-[eye]"*

@Scouarn 8 жыл бұрын

In french we say "Gemin-[ee]".

@paulward4268 6 жыл бұрын

Cody Slab it's whatever you wish. All.my life I've said Gemini- Eye. At school in the UK my teachers spoke of the Constellation with that pronunciation, but I'd say it whichever version you prefer.

@PAULLONDEN 4 жыл бұрын

Don't see the problem......Same way as many ( in the US) say [eye]-raq instead of [ee]-raq Many North Americans often pronounce [eye] for [ i ]-ee , although most languages pronounce [ee] for [ i ] . It's a typical north American thing .

@dalethelander3781 2 жыл бұрын

Geminee was the pronounciation preferred by the good ol' boy test pilots. NASA even composed a memo that said Geminee would be the official pronounciation.

@kargaroc386 5 ай бұрын

The original Latin: [ˈgɛmɪniː] (geh-mih-NEE, with a hard G instead of a J) Neither the """""correct""""" english way, nor the NASA way, are entirely correct, as they use the J sound (and I don't blame them for it), but at least the NASA/astronaut way preserves the original ending vowel, instead of great-vowel-shifting it.