Launch of Gemini 6 (CBS)

The launch of Gemini 6 - 15th December 1965. Onboard are astronauts Wally Schirra (Command Pilot) and Tom Stafford (Pilot). This is the CBS coverage of the event.

[@pandorasangel2747]

Came here for the whoop, stayed for the rocket

[@rwboa22]

As Falcon 9's engines ignite at T=0, it would be cool to get a clean audio recording of the Titan "bwoop" sound and insert it at the ignition.

[@iveharzing]

@@rwboa22 I don't know where you'd need to put the speakers to make them survive the launch, and I also don't know if there are speakers powerful enough to match the loudness of a rocket launch. :P

[@ThePixelated_kris]

Why do people call it the bwooping noise it sounds like a rrrrrrrrrtttttttt to me

[@waterlife.1905]

What makes that sound?

[@jurrasicraptor6285]

Thats the turbopumps for the engines spooling up I believe

[@foxecho727]

I just love the sounds of those turbopumps blasting on at liftoff thank you so much for posting this, was 10 years to the week before I was born!

[@leftcoaster67]

Beeeeewwwwwwwhooooooooop! I love the sound of rockets and turbo-pumps.

[@MrDoneboy]

These were hypergolic fuel missels that flew these missions!

[@jdmlegent]

@@MrDoneboy very cancerogenic chemical fuels....the hypergolic ones!

[@hoghogwild]

@@MrDoneboy They still used turbo-pumps to deliver the nitrogen tetroxide and hydrazine.

[@knightlife98]

Very cool sound, indeed!!!

[@twistedyogert]

@@jdmlegent They'd literally eat skin off if spilled on somebody. But the oxidizer was liquid at room temperature unlike liquid oxygen.

[@marshja56]

Just to let the younger people know, the actual TV images at the time were much better than this video. I am glad they preserved this but it doesn't accurately reflect what people were able to watch at the time.

[@twistedyogert]

I'm 24 and remember how T.V. looked before the switch from analog to digital TV. And I'm definitely suprised how bad the picture in this video is.

[@cpcallen]

It really depended how good your TV and reception were!

[@davidh9844]

I was in high school English class, surreptitiously listening to it on my very small transistor radio. Heady times! There had just recently been an on the pad abort after the engines had started, no one knew if the astronauts would have to bail out. And with the sudden change in flight plans, the launch of Gemini 7 was only days away, for the first planned in orbit rendezvous flights. Those were the days when NASA could, and DID, do amazing things. Amazing what you can do with a slide rule, and can't do with a supercomputer.

[@patton303]

The one inch VTR tapes they used to record broadcasts instantly lost about 500 lines of resolution. The National Archives has a section called Record Group 255 in Maryland. It is a huge building of NASA archives and broadcast footage. There’s thousands of these tapes that have never even been digitized yet. I hope they digitize and clean them up someday before they’re too degraded.

[@TheShootist]

possible that the video tape has degraded.

[@MWSin1]

You think those highly trained astronauts wouldn't grind the clutch like that.

[@stevenhodgkiss442]

My dad used to wake me up early in the morning in the West Coast (San Fernando Valley) to watch every launch. I was just a kid, but I saw every launch of Mercury, Gemini and Apollo, through Apollo 13. Then I was in the Navy and missed a few.

[@xavierjackson1518]

Beeoowoop

[@bsantosu1]

Yes Pandora's Angel, Love that whoop. I wish launches were done as straight-forward now as they were then, no "the dream continues" bs. The engineers just launch, go, have a martini lunch and do it again a month later.

[@MrDoneboy]

Just to hear Jack King count it down, baby!

[@Somethingisntright64]

Better than the modern count-downers!

[@poisonouzapple2467]

@@Somethingisntright64 hands down

[@tm3rd]

This is great...never thought I would see actual Gemini TV coverage! Keep more coming please!

[@christianlibertarian5488]

I remember watching this very liftoff as a young child. We have lost quite a bit of the video over the years. I remember the sky as a pure, vivid blue. The rocket itself was a more pure silver/gray with clean white paint. I remember Walter Cronkite’s voice very vividly. On the other hand, I didn’t hear the turbo pumps back then. Such are memories.

[@manifestgtr]

Is there a *cooler* rocket than the Titan II? I guess the Saturn V is a pretty close contender due to its magnitude and unmistakable silhouette but man…between the ignition sound, the minimalist shape and the chaotic looking, compartmentalized color scheme of the different components…the Titan II is easily my favorite space race rocket. Honorable mention going to the Atlas for its fiery intimidation factor.

[@AlphaSigOU]

The portion of the Titan II booster stage that was recovered was from Gemini 5.The fragment was on display at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama.

[@PatGleeson123]

Superb coverage - thanks for this ! Very classy production for 1965. This is better in some ways to the later Apollo era, and way better than the coverage in the 80's, which has dated badly.

[@antimatterXXXIII]

I love the on-screen display. It was just a billboard with a label and an analog flop clock, merged into the TV feed. Computer-generated OSDs were decades away.

[@bradwooldidge6979]

I remember this launch! My dad got me into the space program as soon as I could walk. I was seven here.

[@michaelfarley2702]

These guys basically rode an ICBM into space. The 60's were awesome lol

[@infinitecanadian]

Man, the sound of that starting is awesome! The ignition sounds better than the Space Shuttle!

[@Bbendfender]

Sure doesn't take the old Titan II very long to generate enough power for liftoff. I served on a Titan II launch crew for 4 years back in the early 70's.

[@fromthesidelines]

And this was one of CBS' first attempts in telecasting a NASA space launch in full color [in September 1965, the network had finally "converted" to color in most of their news programming and coverage of live events, but about half of their prime-time and daytime schedules were still in black and white].

[@tamercam6952]

America can really be proud of its entire space program. It gives hope for all mankind.

[@dstar1958]

The bravery of these men is off the scale.

[@Scottrchrdsn]

Star 1958- I agree with your comment. And, yes I can admire them. However, I believe they were almost too brave, in a way. Reason: They paved the way for the shuttle. And, paved for the way for others to take similar risks. And, this is unsustainable over any period of time. During the Roger's commission it was determined the shuttle ran a risk of ~1% of a catastrophe on every launch. Certainly, one would have to be brave to take a 1% risk of death on a single event; but overall there should not be such a risk on manned vehicles nowadays, even if the crew were willing to take such a risk. And, there is no way known to go to orbit with significantly less risk (1 in 1000 might be acceptable but it should be even less; like 1 in 10000. Still there is no way to even reduce the risk to 1 in 500). What I am trying to say- manned launches should be halted and space work should be done solely by robotic vehicles. I will receive a lot of internet flax on this; I am sure. But, I still stand by my opinion that humans should not go into space, at present anyway.

[@blakeashley1957]

The second stage was needed just to hoist their testicles.

[@christopherslaughter2263]

The titan missile wasnt really reliable at first.

[@lukestrawwalker]

@@Scottrchrdsn The problem with shuttle was designing a vehicle with no realistic means of escape in the event of damage or malfunction. Mercury and Apollo had their escape rocket towers, and Gemini got by with ejection seats, but even if they were a little "sketchy" by comparison, at least they were there, and designed to work. Shuttle had ejection seats the first four flights, but they removed them after that, once the shuttle system was "certified" for flight (which was a foolish notion in itself, as if nothing could EVER go wrong once it was past the "testing" phase... In short, NASA got overconfident in their abilities to never have a failure in flight). Shuttle's abort methods were basically a joke... They weren't realistic. During the SRB burn *NO* escape plan or abort was possible... Hence Challenger was unsurvivable from the moment of liftoff. There was even talk of using the first shuttle flight to demonstrate an RTLS abort (return to launch site abort) and Commander John Young shot that idea down real quick... He said it was "risking likely death to avoid certain death" (IOW not likely to work, probably die in the attempt, but a little better than nothing if it's your last option). RTLS depends entirely on the SSME shuttle engines all working perfectly and a good SRB separation, (so if all that's true, WHY would you need to abort?). Once the SRBs were gone, the shuttle, still burning the three main engines, would do a backflip (like the boost-back burn the SpaceX Falcon 9 first stages do now to return to the launch site to land), then shut down the engines once headed back to Florida, jettison the external tank, and glide back to the runway to land. If the shuttle was damaged and couldn't glide, it was unsurvivable. Bailouts with parachutes options came after Challenger as a stop gap method to address the problem, but STILL was only possible from a stable glide, which is a huge assumption to make for a vehicle having to abort. No escape was possible during reentry, but then that's been true throughout the space program, both US and Russian... Hence Columbia was unsurvivable. The Soviets lost three cosmonauts on reentry due to a pressurization failure (Soyuz 11) and of course Kamarov on Soyuz 1 due to tangled parachutes (the last of many severe problems) and nearly lost another Soyuz due to the service module not separating properly and it reentering with the capsule nose first, instead of heatshield first... The front hatch was hot and the seals were smoking before the service module finally broke free and the capsule inverted heat shield first, cooling off the hatch...) The lesson is, "never design a launch vehicle and spacecraft without realistic survivable abort capabilities". Later! OL J R

[@hoghogwild]

@@lukestrawwalker 3 SSME's are NOT required for successful RTLS. At first NASA was too bold in regards to safety, but was forced to worry about making the Orbiter Vehicles(OV) so much bigger than they wanted due to teh demands of the military. At first STS was a shirts sleeves environment. If the crew of Challenger during STS-51L was wearing proper Launch and Entry Suits at least some of them would have gotten out in time. The incident occurred at 48,000 feet the Crew Cabin continued to climb to 72,000 feet before it began falling back to Earth. If they were wearing pressure suits, the crew on the Flight Deck could have blown the upper panel just behind the Commander in the roof and escaped, the crew on the flight deck could have blown the side hatch and escaped and parachuted back to Earth. In fact on all missions after STS-51L the very last cue card on the flight manual lists getting out of teh Orbiter during Challenger type incidents depending on when they occur. 1) Before Go at Throttle Up 2) After Go at throttle to SRB sep. and 3) After SRB separation. The key for STS-51L was to be wearing a pressure suit AND proper helmet/facemask to allow for proper pressure for effective respiration. As it was, all crew would have been unconscious within seconds of cabin depressurization. Even the 3 that had their Personal Egress Air Packs would have still blacked out as the PEAPs, as the Egress portion of PEAPs alludes to, is that it supplies emergency oxygen to allow crew to get out of the Orbiter even in thick smoke while still on the ground, or back on the ground after landing. They would NOT provide air at the correct pressures necessary at high altitudes. All of the available aborts Return To Launch Site RTLS, Transoceanic Abort Landing(TAL), the tiny window for Abort Once Around and Abort To Orbit(ATO) were all considered Intact Aborts, it was the contingency aborts that were dicey. The Powered Pitch Over during RTLS could be completed with just 2 SSME's, after the PPA the RTLS could be completed on a single engine. If all SSME's went out, that was a Black Zone and a loss of Crew/Vehicle was predicted. A dual engine failure would result in a TAL abort with the remaining engine thrusting at 109% or an East Coast Abort LAnding(ECAL). All aborts did require waiting for a good SRB sep. NASA did all it could with what it was given. If you want to eliminate all risks of human spaceflight, you simply don't attempt human spaceflight. You can die crossing the street, astronauts know the risks. We are getting WAY TOO hung up on safety. It's all about managing risk. Even Space Ex's new heavy lifters wont have an escape system.

[@a8avexp]

I remember when Gemini 6 finally lifted off.

[@bingibus4553]

3:39

[@bptdns22]

Thanks

[@blueberry1c2]

5 4 3 2 1 0 WAooOP BRSHHHHHHHHHHHHH

[@spaceflightengr]

"Gemini-6" was the Mission Name for the ORIGINAL mission. Once the Agena docking target vehicle didn't make it to orbit, and the new mission was devised, a new mission modification name was applied- Gemini-6A"

[@Zoomer30]

I think it was this Gemini flight where they actually recovered the first stage of the Titan, the ONLY time this ever happened (The Titan is a "fire in the hole" staging, where the 2nd stage fires up while still attached to the 1st stage, this usually destroys the 1st stage).

[@pjousma]

it goes BWEEEEEAAAA BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG

[@jameshowland7393]

Love the sound of the turbo spin-up!!

[@ladarrellmurchison6574]

2018 still amazing

[@johnnytoobad7785]

I love Jack King's no-nonsense New York accent.

[@Woody615]

Aww the Golden Era of Manned Space Exploration. Just think, the computer that operates your car is more powerful than the computer on board the Gemini spacecraft, possibly more powerful than what they used at mission control.

[@ARichardP]

Love watching these old launches. I have vague memories of Gemini and better with Apollo, particularly XI and 13. It felt different back then when we were in the Space Race.

[@TheOrbitingBrick]

Admit it, most of the viewers of this video were only here for the bwoop (myself included).

[@SilverSergeant]

The Titan II was a magnificent tool for peace.

[@sj7holt]

3:43 BWOOP

[@4DRC_]

3:43 You're here for the bwoop aren't you squidward?

[@prospectnyc]

Thanks for posting! Beautiful.

[@rikerdodger]

My guess (and it is only a guess) is that it is a sonic boom from the booster going through Max Q. It would take a few seconds for that sound to travel back to those at the Cape.

[@charlesvan13]

It pisses me off that they don't just build a human rated rocket like this today. They could go to a much higher orbit than the Space Shuttle in 1965, and today it's just Space X lauching a car into space.

[@JC-wo2py]

A former NASA administrator said that for the whole cost of the space shuttle program we could of had 6 Apollo flights a year including two moon trips.

[@phayzyre1052]

Still amazing to this day!

[@rdhunkins]

PAOs back then were so much better than today. Rob Navias is okay, but There no one like Jack King.

[@mikeedwards2621]

Jack King was the Czar of all 1960’s launch countdowns!

[@akkudakkupl]

Titan is probably my favourite lift vehicle. First one to have real staging, and not that halfassed Atlas style 'stage-and-a-half' where the sustainer had to carry the weight of fuel tankage of those shed boosters. And that awesome turbine whine on startup!

[@bsantosu1]

What I like best about these liftoffs is that there is no flowery statements like "Liftoff! On a mission to explore the far reaches...etc." It's all business.

[@Workerbee-zy5nx]

Let's light this candle. Go hot shot, go.

[@finderskeepers5343]

Gemini is my favorite program. Love that capsule.

[@thx113868]

Like it was yesterday I was 9 . To bad we have to have the Russians to get us there!!

[@edkrzywdzinski9121]

R I P General Stafford

[@afganistannotienepetroleo1271]

Estos cohetes al lado del saturno V parecian juguetes de niños...

[@danzstuff]

i love that spool up sound

[@rikerdodger]

Yes, I very much agree with apollo9guy. Thanks for providing these great videos.

[@Camop-iz9kt]

I've had the pleasure of meeting Stafford a few times in the last 25 years. An amazing generation of flyers and astronauts, the like of which we'll never see again.

[@Arxmi]

BwOOp

[@jesusmolina9605]

3:44

[@Guitarfollower22]

I love those engines. Thar hypergolic fuel makes it sound awesome.

[@dominykaskruopis5126]

Its not about hypergolic fuels, bet the turbines spinning up at the start

@@dominykaskruopis5126 EXACTLY!

[@StatsJedi]

I probably saw this on TV as it happened, a fascinated five-year old.

[@rwboa22]

If only 4KHD existed back in 1960.

[@LuciaCoolz]

beeeewooooooooooooooooooooooooop

[@tm3rd]

This is great...never thought I would see actual Gemini TV coverage! Keep more coming please!

[@jmstudios457]

god i love gemini

[@maxwellwalcher1441]

BEEWWWWWWWWHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOPPPPP.

[@funda1958]

6:20 seconds for first stage seperation

[@peruvianguru93elite82]

Have you realize that this guy who commentated this commentated the Apollo missions

[@bariohuli145]

Whoooooop

[@scottrichardson8158]

As James Burke said, "The planets or Peking"

[@brianarbenz1329]

Frank and Jim, you’ve got company coming.

[@LeLoly]

3:44

[@hacknwack4065]

at 3:44 the sound you hear that sounds like a screech is actually a small explosive being used to start the turbo pumps

[@iitzfizz]

It pains me every time they say Gemin-ee, it's pronounced Gemin-eye

[@jasonpoland5507]

Sounds like Dan Rather

[@SilverSergeant]

The big red cloud of the mighty Titan II

[@JStarStar00]

Geminee!

[@no_name2882]

JStarStar00 Gemini not geminee

[@luebsmx8]

caleb mercury good job, you know how to spell Gemini. “Geminee” is how Walter Cronkite pronounced it.

[@Rs_Fake]

めっちゃ聞きやすい英語だな（文を理解することはできないけど、単語が聞き取りやすい）

[@chsnu4912]

この時打ち上げカウントを読み上げていたNASAのジャック・キング氏は後に、あのアポロ11号を含む一連のアポロ計画で発射されたサターンVのカウント読み上げも担当しています。11号の発射カウントはテレビ・映画等でも聞く機会がしばしばありますが、確かに聞きやすいですね。

[@smokerings9588]

This Gemini-Titan stack was always my favorite. A thing of beauty.

[@LeLoly]

3.43

[@bariohuli145]

3:43

[@darougegamer1721]

3:43 is the whoop sound

[@Gemini5AU]

Great Stuff!!! Love it.

[@quantumkakes8491]

3:33 How dads sneeze:

[@AlphaSigOU]

Gemini-Titan II launch vehicles used storable hypergolic propellants (Aerozine-50 fuel and nitrogen tetroxide oxidizer) that ignited on contact with each other. At the moment of ignition you'll hear a high-pitched howl as the engines spool up to full power.

[@antimatterXXXIII]

@lunarmodule5 Not the SB from the rocket, they were well beyond Mach gazillion at that point. Could have been a chase plane.

[@BigKwell]

@Feexer007 I think the Gemini/Titan II combo went transsonic before then. The shockwave only hit afterward.

[@LeLoly]

3:43

[@bariohuli145]

Bwoooop

[@jimbodeek]

Third time's the charm for Gemini 6!

[@scottrichardson8158]

9 megaton warhead; on it's way!!!

[@firestar7188]

Gemini 7, already in orbit

[@guiguiferrand2296]

Beeeewwwwhhhoooppp 😂😂😎

[@ditto1958]

Those were heady days…

[@daviundertale1235]

bwooooop

[@ilmsff7]

Is that the ascent announcer that was on early shuttle missions?

[@scottrichardson8158]

No, I believe the announcer you are referring to retired in the 1970s.

[@irish89055]

NBC ONLY...

[@MrPypap]

Thank you for uploading this but what was their mission?

[@char2c584]

Originally a (1st) Docking in orbit mission. the Agena Target vehicle didnt reach orbit. so Gemini 6(A) and Gemini 7 were The first to vehicles to rendezvous in Orbit

[@Scottrchrdsn]

What is ultimately so interesting about this launch is that they used pretty much the same technology that was developed in WWII to fly the Komet 163.

[@Mr11101956]

Thank you so very much lunarmodule5. I have been so in love with the gemini/apollo space program.The space shuttles to me were a waste of time and money.We served a purpose in going to the moon.and back Right now as far as im concerned we serve NO purpose.I hope we go back there again someday,if not, then it was so worth it thank you again...

[@tristanwassman3085]

Why does the Atlas V make a similar sound to the one at 3:43 if it doesn't use hypergolic fuels?

[@Kanglar]

I think it is the sound of the pumps starting, it uses a hypergolic starter cartridge to get them going. upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/2/25/Rd180schematic.png

[@tristanwassman3085]

Oh, I thought it used RP1 (Rocket fuel grade Kerosene) and liquid ozygen, like the Saturn V. I didn't think that was yypegolic.

[@jln55]

+Tristan Wassman It's a Titan booster.

[@tristanwassman3085]

You're kidding.

[@TheTornado121]

+Tristan Wassman No no no, you're right. The rocket does use RP1 and LOX as main propellants. The sound you hear, is the turbine spinning up to operational speed. And the way they do this involves a hypergolic (technically pyrophoric) fuel, namely Triethylaluminum (TEA). The fuel lines fill up with RP1 right before the TEA is released. Once exposed to air it combusts and ignites the RP1/LOX mixture which spools up the turbine with the audible noise. Once the turbine and fuel pumps are running combustion is sustained and liftoff can occur. The TEA is also responsible for the green flame shortly before ignition. You can read all that and even more at: spaceflight101.com/spacerockets/atlas-v-551/

[@TheJMascis666]

At the third time of asking Gemini 6 is a go !

[@lunarmodule5]

TheJMascis666 I still doubt it will go this time ;-)

[@TheJMascis666]

Even though I already knew the outcome and was watching the footage 50 years later I still breathed a sigh of relief when it got off the ground!

[@lunarmodule5]

TheJMascis666 If it never feels like that each time you watch a launch, any launch, even if you have seen it 100 times; it's time to find a new interest ;-)

[@Sticknub]

3:43 Everyone loves that bwooping noise, but it kind of scares me.

[@blueberry1c2]

It means the rocket is happy :D

[@rikerdodger]

I noticed that as well. It looks like that was also the case with Mercury-Redstone and Mercury-Atlas. I have never heard an explanation of why this was the case. Perhaps it was that the Saturn was more complex, so they timed the countdown for liftoff rather than ignition. It took about 8 seconds in the Saturn for the thrust to build up to the point where it had enough thrust to leave the ground, which was when those objects securing the rocket all had to release at the same time.

[@Woody615]

Interesting for the Gemini program, that the countdown was for the ignition, not the launch. They could have easily programmed the Titan to ignite at -0:03 seconds, then have launch at 0:00. This is what they did for Apollo-Saturn V.

[@beatlefriend]

I wonder how many people could have been fed by tripjet999 handing over his/her paychecks.

[@MrRandomcommentguy]

Really didn't appreciate how First Man depicted spaceflight as a miserable horror show. Yes, it could be scary, yes, it was certainly dangerous, but that movie just made it look completely unpleasant and horrific in every way.

[@scottrichardson8158]

You will notice how Walter Cronkite gets in everybody's way with his annoying blab blab blab. He loved the sound of his own voice!