a walk in space

8/7/2019 A Walk in Space

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On June 3, 1965, during the third revolution of an extended earth orbital mission in space by NASAsGemini 4,Astronauts James A. McDivitt and Edward H. White I1 carried out the first Extravehicular Ac-tivity in the United States manned space flight program. Extravehicular Activity (EVA) is the operationalterm for walking in space, or more properly, maneuvering in space by an astronaut outside the spacecraft.It is not a stunt. It is a basic technique required for the development of manned space flight capability.

Future spacemen will leave their vehicles and maneuver in space to accomplish specific tasks vital totheir missions. This could include transferring from one vehicle to another, monitoring of the joining of onespacecraft to another (docking), making adjustments to the outside of the spacecraft, assembling a spacestation, making repairs or adjustments to an unmanned instrumented earth satellite.

In the Gemini 4 EVA, Astronaut White left the spacecraft to walk in space; Command Pilot McDivittremained at the controls. White was outside Gemini for 21 minutes. He was photographed by a motionpicture camera fastened to the outside of Gemini 4,an d by McDivitt. White also took pictures, including thefirst photograph ever taken of a spacecraft in space from a vantage point outside the spacecraft.

In the early hours of the flight, prior to EVA, an effort was made to rendezvous Gemini 4 with theorbiting second stage of the Titan I1 launch vehicle, which had placed the spacecraft in orbit. The necessarycontrol maneuvers were accomplished readily in Gemini, but the booster was in an orbit differing so muchfrom that of the spacecraft that a great deal of fuel was consumed controlling attitude to keep Titans Stage2 in sight and changing altitude in an attempt to match the boosters orbit. Also, the booster was tumbling(turning end over end) which made it difficult to judge range and would have posed a hazard in a closeapproach. For these reasons, the rendezvous maneuver was discontinued. This insured having a sufficientamount of maneuvering gas for the long duration orbital flight.Gemini 4 was the second manned flight in Project Gemini, Flights 1 and 2 having been tests withoutastronauts aboard, In Gemini 3, Astronauts Virgil I. Grissom and John W. Young made three orbits of theearth in 4 hours and 53 minutes, demonstrating manned orbital flight in the Gemini spacecraft and qualify-ing it for long duration missions. Gemini 4,flown by Astronauts James A. McDivitt as command pilot, andAstronaut White as pilot, began at 11:16 a.m. EDT on June 3 from Cape Kennedy, Florida, proceededthrough 62 plus revolutions and ended with touchdown in the Atlantic Ocean 97 hours and 56 minutesafteqcthe launch. These, and flights still to come, are parts of a three-phase program for placing men on themoo&tpd returning them safely to earth before the end of this decade. Project Mercury was the first phase,in which:,techniques of manned orbital flight were developed. Project Gemini is the second phase, and thethird is Project Apollo, with the objective of lunar landings.

Project G,emini has the mission of accomplishing orbital flights of long duration, of developing thetechniques of . maneuvering, including changes of orbit, and the joining of one spacecraft to another(d~ckiiig). I tqfc~&, i~ , e$&e st.;&es zfecpipme~tfer space flight, and th e effect on men of space flight-including the effects of weightlessness. It is a continuation of astronaut training. And it includes theExtravehicular Activities mission, the stated purpose of which is to experiment with astronauts leavingthe Gemini spacecraft while in orbit and determining their ability to perform extravehicular activities suchas mechanical or other type tasks. This mission was begun with Astronaut Whites walk in space andfurther EVA missions are scheduled. Project Gemini has the additional mission of carrying into space aseries of experiments in space medicine, engineering and space sciences.

The Manned Space Flight program is managed by NASAs Manned Spacecraft Center at Houston,Texas, under the direction of the Office of Manned Space Flight, NASA Headquarters, Washington, D. C.


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THE ASTRO%IIUTS.GEMIWI=T1T11114James A. McDivitt was the Command Pilot. During the walk

in space it was his difficult task to keep the Gemini spacecraft in astable attitude so that Astronaut White would have a constant anddependable point of reference against which to gauge his movementsoutside the spacecraft.

Edward H. White I1 was pilot for GT-4. For the total missionit was his function to help operate the spacecraft, and to take overduring periods when McDivitt was sleeping. His special assignmentwas to leave the spacecraft for Extravehicular Activity, or in shortform, EVA.

Astronauts McDivitt ( le f t ) and White examine a celestialglobe, prior to their flight, identifying locations of con-stellations and other celestial bodies which they will seeduring 62 orbits. They had been prepared for this elementof the mission by a study of celestial pattern recognitionin the Moorehead Planetarium at Chapel Hill, N. C.

Astronauts McDivitt (right) and White as they appeared suitedand helmeted for the ir journey into space. This pic ture wastaken on May 29 as they completed flight simulation exercises.


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PREFll

The flight crew for Gemini 4 was selected July 27, 1964, nearly a year prior to launch. At the sametime NASA named a backup crew, consisting of Command Pilot Frank Borman and Pilot James A.Lovell, Jr., to participate in every phase of preflight, and become qualified to make the flight itself, if needbe. Borman and Lovell were understudies, but they were also essential members of a team preparing theGemini 4 flight-backing up the prime crew in every simulation and checkout, contributing to evaluations.

Each element of countdown, launch, orbital flight, reentry and recovery was carried out in simulatedform, This is standard practice for every manned space flight; for Gemini 4 it included the special prep-arations for the first EVA: Opening the hatch and standing up, with head out the door, in a pressurechamber simulating conditions 150,000 feet above the earth; practice with the pressure gun which was tobe used for maneuvers in space; checks of the tether-umbilical line which would connect White with theGemini spacecraft. While this was going on, EVA was listed as a possibility for Gemini 4, subject to resultsof equipment checkouts. When these were positive it became possible for the Mission Director to give theGO signal, making EVA part of the flight plan.

In h a 1 preparations for the flight, with the Titan launch vehicle and the Gemini spacecraft in place onPad 19 at Cape Kennedy, the crew went through final flight simulations, practiced procedures which wouldbe used if the flight should have to be aborted (cut short) and carried out a wet mock simulated launch.In the latter, the entire launching procedure was practiced, with conditions as close as possible to the realthing, but stopping short of actual launch.

Major crew medical examinations were conducted at T-2 days, two days before scheduled launch, tomake certain the astronauts were in physical condition to make the flight, also to provide records to com-pare with results of examinations after the flight.Seven hours before launch at T-7 hours, the back-up crew took stations at Gemini in the White Room(pmtectex! against dust and lint) at the top of the erector tower, to monitor preparations at this stage. AtT-5hours, all was in readiness for the primary crew, which was awakened at T-4 hours, 30 minutes. At T-4,there was a final medical examination; at T-3 hours, 40 minutes, breakfast; at T-3 hours the trip from theOperations and Checkout Building to the ready room on Pad 16 for placement of the medical sensors,and for donning spacesuits and having them adjusted and checked. The crew entered the spacecraft at Tminus 1 hour and 40 minutes.


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A technician examines and checksthe umbilical line which will carryoxygen to .White while he walks inspace. The umbilical is a 25-foot-long gold-plated tube running fromthe spacecraft which conveysoxygen to the astronaut and con-tains electric wiresand a 241/2-footnylon tether. The wires relay voicemessages between the astronautsinside and outside of Gemini. Thetether, tested for as much as athousand pounds of pull, is shott-er than the other lines and thefube te prevent strain on them.

Spacesuits to be worn in flight are tested during wet mocksimulation. (McDivitt is in foreground.) White wore theextravehicular suit, which differs from the previous Geminisuit in these ways: (1) There is an extra layer of materialconsisting of high temperature nylon and layers of alumi-nized mylar and left, for protection against heat and micro-meteoroids (dust particles traveling at high speed in space).(2) The helmet has two external visors. The inner visor isof Lexan, 30 times stronger than the plastic for aircraftcanopies, and coated with a solution preventing heat leakfrom inside the suit. The outer visor is tinted and providesglare protection.


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Astronauts McDivi tt and White prepare to enter the Gemini 4 spacecraft for t he wet mock simulation test.

The astronauts have taken theirstations; technicians have closedthe hatches. During the next twohours the elements of launch arerehearsed with conditions as closeas possible to the real thing.

Specialists in the blockhouse at Pad 19 stand by at their stations to carry out,during the wet mock, the same functions tha t they will have during the launch.

At the Goddard Space Flight Cen-ter, Greenbelt, Md. (near Washing-A-- n - \ - ~ m m l l n i r ~ + i n n rL U I I , Y. ~.,C.v""""lllr".,",.,. .."personnel prepare for their sup-porting role in Gemini 4's flight.Goddard is the center for commu-nications from the tracking stationsaround the world. Communicationwith t he Mission Control Center atHouston is instantaneous.


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The day is June 3, 1965. Gemini 4s countdown has proceeded toT minus four hours and 40 minutes. Astronauts McDivitt and Whiteare at breakfast with two doctors and two Catholic priests. Clockwise,starting front center, are Dr. D. 0. Coons, Houston Manned SpacecraftCenter: McDivitt; Dr. Eugene F. Tubbs, Kennedy Space Center; Rt.Rev. James Heiliky; Msgr. lrvine J. Nugent; and White.

Suit technician Joe Schmitt adjustsa glove as Astronaut White breathespure oxygen through a face mask.The process is called pre-oxygeniza-tion, and it purges the astronautsbody of nitrogen. This is necessarybecause the Gemini spacecraft is tobe depressurized for extravehicularactivity; a residual of nitrogen in thebody might cause the astronaut tosuffer the bends.

Astronauts McDivitt and White, followed by suit technicians Joe Schmitt and Clyde Teague, walk up thramp to the elevator which will carry them t o t he White Room at the top of Gemini-Titans erector. Whitgives a GO signal with his upraised thumb.


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The astronauts have entered Gemini 4; McDivittoccupies the Command Pilots position at lef t . Theyrecline, in position for launch. A t the bottom of thepicture are heads and hands of technicians securingequipment.

McDivitts hatch is closed from theoutside. (If this picture is rotatedso that the right becomes the bot-tom, an idea can be had of theastronauts forward vision.)

Both hatches are secured. It is 8:35 a.m. EDT, the countdown isproceeding on schedule, condition is GO.e *


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1AUNCH INTO ORBITGeminis Launch Vehicle is a modified U.S. Air Force Titan 11.It has two stages, the first with two rocketengines, the second with a single engine. All three burn the same fuel, Aerozine 50. (This fuel is described

as a 50-50 blend of unsymmetrical-dimethyl hydrazine and monomethyl hydrazine, or it may be called UDMHand hydrazinc.) The oxidizer is nitrogen ktroxide. The fuel is hypergolic, meaning that it ignites spontane-ously when fuel and oxidizer come together, and it is storable.

In the countdown for Gemini, launch was scheduled for 10 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time. There was ahold of an hour and 16 minutes while the technical people located and corrected a difficulty which interferedwith lowering the erector tower. When this adjustment had been made, the countdown proceeded, andthe launch took place at 11:16 a.m. EDT.

From that point onward the launch was a textbook maneuver. It went exactly according to schedule,achieved an orbit with perigee (closest to earth) of 100miles and apogee (farthest out) of 175 miles.


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The launch vehicle erector tower is lowered, exposing Gemini spacecraftand the Titan launch vehicle. Liftoff was at 11:16 a.m. EDT on June 3.


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The clock is running and Gemini i s enroute to a flight of 62+ revolutions and concludingon schedule to touchdown after 97 hours and 56 minutes.

In the blockhouse at Pad 19, three fellow astronauts moni tor the launch. Left to righ t,Clifton C. Williams Jr., Frank Borman (Command Pilot of the backup crew for GT-4) andAlan B. Shepard Jr . (first U. S . astronaut t o go into space, in a suborbital Project Mercuryflight on May 5, 1961). Following insertion into orbit, control passed to the Mission ControlCenter a t NASAs Manned Spacecraft Center, Houston.


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Quotations are from the transcript of the Mission Commentary, a running verbal accountof Gemini 4 events in which the participants included the astronauts, Flight Director ChristopherKraft, Flight Surgeon Dr. Charles Berry, Capsule communicator Virgil I. Grissom at the MissionControl Center, Houston, other Capsule Communicators, and Paul Haney of Public Affairs,Manned Spacecraft Center, Houston, and others. (A Capsule Communicator at each trackingstation had the prime assignment f or talk ing t o Gemini 4 when the spacecraft was in his area.)Much of th is mission Commentary went out in real time (the instant it occurred) to TV andradio audiences around the world.

Quotations in the captions are from the transcr ipt of a press conference at Houston, andfrom the Mission Commentary.

GEMINI CONTROL: This is Gemini Control.Four hours and 24 minutes into the mission. TheHawaii station has just established contact and thepilot, Jim McDivitt, advises the cabin has beendepressurized. It is reading zero. We are standingby for a GO from Hawaii to open the hatch . . .White has opened the door. He has stood up, andits a most relaxed period. McDivitt reports thatWhite is standing in the seat. . .

Millions of TV watchers and radio listeners, theworld over, were listening to these words from theMission Control Center at Houston.Gemini 4 was completing the third revolution.Location was over the Pacific Ocean, communica-tions were with Kauai, Hawaii, altitude was 120miles and speed relative to the surface of the earthwas 5 miles per second.

The walk in space, postponed from RevolutionTwo to permit more time to prepare for it, was aboutto take place.CAPSULE COMMUNICATOR, HAWAII : Allsystems on the ground look good . . .FLIGHT DIRECTOR, Houston: Youre havinghim ge t out?CC: Roger, Flight, were GO . . .FLIGHT DIRECTOR: Tell him were ready

to have him get out when he is.CC TO GEMINI: We just had word fromHouston were ready to have you get out when.everyoure ready. Give us a mark when you egress thespacecraft . . .GEMINI: Hes ready to egress right now.At this point communication with Gemini waslost for a few moments, as the spacecraft passed out


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of range of Hawaii. Following resumption of com-m u n i c a t i n ~ shy Gmymas, Mexico, Eoustolr pickedup the report again:.

GEMINI CONTROL: This is Gemini Control,Houston. Gus Grissom has just established contactwith the spacecraft. McDivitt confirmed that Whitedid leave the spacecraft. He said he looks great.Hes outside working his maneuvering unit and Jimis quite exuberant about the performance that heswitnessing at this time. Lets cut in live now andlisten to what White says . . .WHITE: The maneuvering unit is good. Theonly problem I have is that I havent got enoughfuel. Ive exhausted the fuel now and I was ableto man.euver myself down to the bottom o f the space-craft and I was right up on top of the adapter . . .Im looking right down, and it looks like werecoming up on the coast of California, and Imgoingin slow rotation to the right. There is absolutelyno disorientation association.McDIVITT: One thing about it , when Ed getsout there and starts whipping around it sure makesthe spacecraft tough to control . . .WHITE: Im going to work on getting some pic-tures, Jim.McDIVITT: O K . Get out in front where I cansee you again . . . Where are you?

WHITE: Right out in front now. I dont have

the control I had any more . . . Theres no difficultyin recontacting the spacecraft . . . particularly in try-ing to move back . . . Im very thankful in havingthe experience to be first . . .McDIVITT: Ed, will you please roll around?Right now were pointing just about straight downto the ground.WHITE: OK, now Im taking a look back atthe adapter. Im looking back there. The thrustersare clean. The sun in space is not blinding but itsquite nice. Im coming back down on the spacecraft.

I can sit out here and see the whole California coast.FLIGHT SURGEON: Flight, this is Surgeon.The data looks great here.FLIGHT DIRECTOR: Hows his EKG? (Elec-trocardiagram.)FLIGHT SURGEON: It looks great, Flight.Hes just ripping along here at great rate.McDIVITT: You smeared up my windshield,you dirty dog! You see how its all smeared upthere?WHITE: Yep!McDIVITT: Looks like theres a coating on theoutside and youve rubbed it off. Thats apparentlywhat youve done.Astronaut White was outside of the Gemini space-craft for 21 minutes. He reported afterward thathe had perfect control of his movements using the


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Hand-held Self Maneuvering Unit, which he calledthe gun. He found, after the guns gas supplywas exhausted, that he could still maneuver usingthe tether as a guide, but that there were limitationsin this method. At some angles to the spacecraft hecould not move as he desired. Also, his use ofthe tether added to problems of control of thespacecraft by Command Pilot McDivitt.But the answers to the basic questions posed wereemphatically positive. Can man maneuver at will inspace, on his own, outside of the spacecraft? Yes.Can he do this without physicai harm or strain?Emphatically, yes.As the EVA came to an end this conversation tookplace :CATOR: Gus, this is Jim. Got any message forus?

CAPSULE COMMUNICATOR: Gemini 4 .G et back in!McDIVITT: O K . . .WHITE: O K , Im on top of it right now.McDIVITT: O K , Youre right on top. Com eWHITE: All right.McDIVITT: ZZZ put the gun up.WHITE: 111 open the door and come throughthere.McDIVITT: O K . Lets not lose this camera

now. I dont quite have it. A little bit more. O K ,Ive got it . . . Com e on . Lets get back in here be-for e it gets dark.

McDIVITT TO THE CAPSULE COMMUNI-

on in, then . . .

Thus ended the first U.S. astronauts EVA.It was not without a final complication. Thehatch door failed to close and lock normally; thefastenings had to be maneuvered into place andsecured. As a consequence, the spacecraft was neverdepressurized afterward as had been planned, fordisposal of materials no longer needed, and thesehad to be carried throughout the remainder of the62 revolutions.

But the first walk in space had been successfullyaccomplished. Astronauts McDivitt and White haddemonstrated that the technique was feasible, andavailable for future use in the expanding mission ofpeaceful exploration of space.

The flight is monitored and directed from Mission Controlat the Manned Spacecraft Center, Houston. In this photo,left to right, are Astronauts John W. Young, Virgil I. Gris-sorn, Walter M. Schirra Jr., and Donald K. Slayton. Seated,in shi rt sleeves, at upper console: Flight DirectorChristopher Kraft.

This is actually when I am coming out. What I tried to dowas actually fly with the gun or maneuver with the gunright ou t of the spacecraft, and when I departed the space-craft this time there was no pushoff whatsoever from thespacecraft. The gun actually provided the impulse for meto leave the spacecraft. A t this time, I knew we did some-thing with the gun, because it was actually providing mean opportunity to control myself where I want to go outthere.


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The Hand-Held Self Maneuvering Unit(the austronauts call it the gun)contains its own high pressure coldgas supply, together with meteringvalves and nozzles to produce con-trolled thrust. As a safety measure, theunit is attached to the extravehicularastronaut by a cord tha t fastens to thearm of the spacesuit. In the GT-4mission, a camera was mounted on thefront of the unit.

The control was actually what wewere trying to demonstrate on our EVAoperation. We wanted to find out howwell a man outside a spacecraft would,with a maneuvering unit, control him-self and we wanted to find out justhow well could the man control himselfwith a tether, also.


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"I found that the control with the gun to the righ t and to the le f t , was, I felt, quite adequate. I only hasix feet per second in the gun, which is a very limited amount of air. So I tried to use it very sparinglyI used it enough to satisfy myself and to make maneuvers so that I saw in my own mind I could contromyself in both pitch, yaw and translation."

c

The chest pack regulates the flow of oxygen tothe astronaut for breathing and suit pressuriza-tion. It also carries an emergency supply ofoxygen, sufficient for 9 to 12 minutes, in caseflow from the supply within Gemini, via theumbilical, should falter. The pack is white, 13.2inches long, 6 inches wide, 2 inches deep andweighs 8.3 pounds.

"There was absolutely no sensation of falling. There was very littl esensation of speed, other than the same type of sensation that wehad in the capsule, and I would say it would be very similar to flyingover the earth from about 20,000 feet. You can't actually see theearth moving underneath you . , . I think as I stepped .out, I thoughprobably the biggest thing was a feeling of accomplishment of oneof the goals of the Gemini 4 mission. I think that was probably imy mind. I think that is as close as I can give it to you."


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c

The tether was quite useful. I was able to go rightback where I started every time, but I wasnt able tomaneuver to specific points with it. Another use of thetether that Jim mentioned to me was that I also usedit to pull myself down to the spacecraft, and at one timeI called down and said, I am actually walking acrossthe top of the spacecraft, and that is exactly what Iwas doing. I took the tether to give myself a littlefriction on the top of the spacecraft and walked aboutthree or four steps until the angle of the tether to thespacecraft got so much that my feet went out fromunder me.

We were looking to find out, could man cont rol himself inspace, and the ai iswei Is yes, m an can ccntm! himself in space.He needs a little more fuel than was provided to me. We alsowere trying to find out what were the dynamics of a tether. Wefound out a great deal, I believe, about the dynamics of thetether. I also realized right away that our tether was mountedso that it put me exactly where I was told to stay out of. He(McDivitt) to ld me to stay away from the adapter end and alsothe thruster firings.

WHITE: The maneuvering unit isgood. The only problem I have is that Ihavent got enough fuel . Ive exhaustedthe fuel now and I was able to maneuvermyself down to the bottom of the space-craft and I was up on top of theadapter. . .McDIVITT: One thing about it, whenEd gets out there and starts whippingaround-it sure makes the craf t toughto control . . .


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GRISSOM: Gemini 4! Get back in!

After the Gemini 4 mission had settled into something of a routine,Jim McDivitt picked up his camera, pointed it toward Ed White, andsnapped th is picture. The violently sharp contrast between light anddark that is typical of space may be seen here, but reflection withinthe capsule may be observed, too, in the area at left, below and tothe right of Whites window.This is the hand-held 70 mm Hasselblad camera with which JamesMcDivitt took pictures during Gemini 4. Most of the pictures of Whitein space are McDivitts. Others are from the remarkable motionpicture taken by the camera which White mounted on the outside ofthe spacecraft before he moved out in to space. This was a cameraespecially designed for this purpose.


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Compared with the chase of Titans second stage during the early stages of the flight and the excitingwalk in space which took place during the third time around the earth, Revolutions 4 to 62 were relativelyroutine.

But th is was only by comparison. Astronauts McDivitt and White had duties to perform in connectionwith eleven medical, engineering and scientific experiments assigned to Gemini 4. They had to assure acontinuous flow of data to the Medical Director, Dr. Charles Berry; a primary objective of the mission was todetermine effects on the body of prolonged space flight in a weightless condition. They had to sleep, andthey had to eat.

Rest was in four-hour periods. At first the astronauts tried to sleep with their radio headsets con-nected-later in the flight the astronaut resting disconnected his earphones, leaving his companion on watch.Later, on the ground, the astronauts recommended that longer continuous periods be assigned for sleep.Food was provided for four meals a day-stored in 18 packages, 14 two-man meals and four one-man meals. The food consisted of freeze-dried items, dehydrated items in powder form and compressedbite-sized items. Water was added to the dehydrated food and some of the freeze-dried, with a specialwater gun. An appetizing variety was included: orange juice, bacon and egg bites, toasted bread cubes forbreakfast; soup, beef, chicken salad, ham and applesauce, fruit, puddings, to mention a few, for other meals.Beverages included cocoa and tea.

In the press conference at Houston, answering a question about the prospects for flights of 12 to 14 days,McDivitt had this to say about rest and food: We have got to rearrange our work-rest cycles a little differ-ently than when we planned . . . We have got to provide sufficient food and water and rest period for peoplein space, the same way that we do on the ground. I dont think there should be any problem. And Whiteadded: Up there when I got hungry my energy level went down considerably. And each time I had a meal,it was like a shot in the arm.

During the 48th revolution, the astronauts found they would not have the use of the Gemini 4 com-puter, which would have enabled the astronauts to control the reentry and letdown of the spacecraft with greatprecision. The consequence of this was that Gemini had to make a ballistic reentry. Computers on the groundselected the instant for starting the retrorockets to slow Gemini 4 for reentry. Using this method of leavingtheir orbit, the astronauts still touched down just 56 miles short of target, the U.S. Navy carrier Wasp.

Geminis elapsed time in space was 97 hours, 56 minutes and 22 seconds; touchdown was at 1:12p.m. EDT on June 7, about 400 miles east of Cape Kennedy.


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McDivitt and White have transferred from the spacecraft to a life raft, with Navy frogmen standingby in the water. A Navy helicopter hovers overhead and begins to lift one of the astronauts onboard. The spacecraft, with flotation collar, floats h igh ou t of the relatively smooth sea. Markerdye discolors the water.

Two weary astronauts try to relax in the recovery helicopter, on the wayto the flight deck of the aircraft carrier, USS Wasp.


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t

Gemini 4 is hoisted from the Atlantic by crew members of the Wasp.

The astronauts step from the helicopter ontothe deck of the Wasp: they are greeted bycolleagues from the Manned Spacecraft Cen-ter at Houston, John Stonesifer, Landing andRecovery Division and Ben James, PublicAffairs.

McDivitt and White are welcomed aboard by Capt. J. W. Conger (left) thships commander, and Rear Adm. W. M. McCormick, Commander, CarrieDivision 14, Atlantic.


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Wasp puts out the red carpet for the Gemini astronauts as they are welcomed by crew members of the

Astronauts White (left) andMcDivitt talk to the Presidentof the United States from theWasp. Mr. Johnson invitedthem to come and see him,said he was keeping a littlesomething for them.

I- -.,..,.lI--L c...I i r C A L C I I C I I L ai iapc after its1,600,000-mile jo u r n e y i nspace, Gemini 4 is examinedby technicians. The blun t endshows the results of the fieryreentry into the atmosphere,when heat was carried awayby ablating material on thebroad surface in the left ofthe picture. 4

The astronauts stand in the space-for 97 hours and 56 minutes.c ra f t t h a t WS their hCIrnP in space


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ht

At the Manned Spacecraft Center, Houston, Texas, the Gemini 4 astronauts present to President Johnson a picture ofWhite's walk in space, and a photo book of the space flight. Left to right: James E. Webb, NASA Administrator;Astronaut McDivitt; Dr. Robert C. Seamans, Jr., Associate Administrator of NASA; President Johnson; Astronaut White.

AIn Washington, at the White House, McDivitt and White present to President Johnson a flag which traveled with themduring the flight of Gemini 4. Left to right: McDivitt, White, President Johnson and Vice President Humphrey. A t far right,Charles W. Mathews, Manager of the Gemini Program Office. Next day the astronauts f lew to Paris with the Vice Presidentto visit the air show in progress there.