The time has come for the United States and the Soviet Union
to prepare for one of the biggest challenges in human history.
This is the Evolution of NASA.
The third episode will take a look at how NASA and the Soviet Union
prepared for going to the moon.
While previous missions under Project Mercury had confirmed
that astronauts would at least endure the stresses of flying through space,
in the grand scheme of things, NASA was relatively inexperienced.
Keep in mind that the moon is very far away,
perhaps much further than you would think…..
In fact, the moon is on average 384,000 kilometers away from the Earth.
A mission to go to the moon and back would take more than a week,
while the longest mission NASA had done with Project Mercury
was only 1 day and 10 hours.
That’s why NASA initiated the Gemini Program in 1961.
With this program NASA had to learn
what happened when astronauts spent many days in space,
how astronauts could go outside a spacecraft in a spacesuit,
and how to connect two spacecraft together in space.
NASA designed a new Gemini capsule
that could accommodate two astronauts instead of just one.
Besides it being much bigger than the Mercury spacecraft,
it also had significant improvements.
For example, it didn’t have an escape tower because it was too heavy,
and instead used ejection seats in case of an emergency.
It also added much more control.
While the Mercury spacecraft could only roll, pitch and yaw,
the Gemini Spacecraft could also move other directions,
like forward, backward and sideways.
The rockets that were used during Project Mercury were also changed.
Instead NASA adapted an even bigger 33 meter tall Titan II rocket,
formerly used as a missile, so that it could propel humans into space.
Of course, they tested it without any astronauts first,
just to make sure it worked!
In April 1964, the Gemini 1 was launched
and generated a whopping 1,900 kilonewtons at lift-off.
The objective of the Gemini 1 was to test the structural integrity of the new capsule
as well as the modified Titan II launch vehicle.
After a successful flight, the Titan II was considered "man-rated",
in other words, safe for use in human spaceflight.
However, a second unmanned launch was needed
to make sure the Gemini capsule was also man-rated.
These early successes paved the way for the first manned Gemini flight,
Gemini 3, on March 23, 1965.
It was piloted by astronauts Gus Grissom and John Young.
Their main objective was to test the maneuverability of the spacecraft.
In space, they completed three low Earth Orbits in their spacecraft,
which they nicknamed “Molly Brown”.
The mission was considered a success.
However, Young had smuggled a sandwich on board
and both men took a few bites while in mid-flight.
The crumbs could have interfered with the spacecraft’s electronics
and could have wreaked havoc.
Grissom later stated that one of the highlights of the flight
was when Young offered him this strictly non-regulation goodie.
While it may seem like the United States was pushing far ahead,
if you’ve watched the previous episodes in this Evolution of NASA series
you’ll know that the Soviets undoubtedly had something to say about that!
On June 16th 1963, almost a year before the launch of Gemini 1,
the Soviet Union sent the first woman into space aboard a 38 meter tall rocket.
The cosmonaut’s name was Valentina Tereshkova,
and although sending the first woman in space was a notable achievement,
it was the fact that she returned to Earth after as many as 48 orbits
after a stay in space for 2 days and 22 hours that was truly remarkable.
At that point in time, Valentina had spent more time in space
than all U.S. astronauts combined…
in just one continuous flight!
What’s more, just three days later,
Soviet cosmonaut Valery Bykovsky orbited earth 82 times
and set a space endurance record
by completing a solo flight that lasted for 4 days and 23 hours!
The cosmonaut records and achievements kept on coming too.
Spacewalks, or EVAs, extravehicular activities,
were an essential part of the process
if any man was ever going to walk on the moon.
On March 18, 1965, Russian cosmonaut Alexei Leonov
became the first person to leave a space capsule and float freely in orbit,
while still attached to the spacecraft of course.
Even though he was only outside of his capsule for approximately 12 minutes,
Leonov’s suit swelled up and he couldn’t get back inside via the airlock.
He had to ‘bleed’ his suit many times, beyond what was considered safe,
to make his suit more flexible until he could eventually squeeze back into the spacecraft.
Leonov later explained that his spacesuit was soaked in sweat
from the terrifying experience.
In spite of his near-death experience,
the cosmonaut had secured yet another massive milestone victory for the Soviets.
As you’d expect though, NASA was hot on the Russian’s heels.
Less than 3 months later, on June 3, 1965,
American astronaut Ed White undertook a spacewalk
that lasted 23 minutes during the flight of Gemini 4.
At the time, that was considered a great accomplishment and a lengthy spacewalk.
To put this achievement into context,
nowadays astronauts at the International Space Station
go on spacewalks for up to 8 hours, depending on their mission.
With NASA’s Gemini flights coming rapidly in 1965,
Gemini 7 was launched on December 4th.
Its astronauts were Frank Borman and Jim Lovell,
the same Jim Lovell who later became mission commander
of the infamous Apollo 13 mission.
Gemini 7 was significant because it set an endurance record
of almost 14 days in space.
The crew orbited Earth 206 times in that span of time,
and doubled the total duration that any human had spent in space so far!
This mission was incredibly important
since it proved that humans could survive for long durations in space,
which was necessary for going to the moon.
Gemini 8 took off on 16 March 1966
with the purpose of successfully docking two spacecraft in orbit.
While technically this was achieved,
the flight is also noted for being the first U.S. spacecraft
to suffer a critical in-space system failure
which put its astronauts’ lives at risk.
The crew consisted of David Scott
and the most famous astronaut of all time,
Neil Armstrong.
For largely unknown reasons, shortly after docking,
a thruster malfunction put the spacecraft and its crew into a spin.
According to NASA, “As the spin rate approached one revolution per second,
the astronauts' vision became blurred.
The tumbling needed to be stopped.”
Thankfully, Armstrong’s quick thinking enabled him to regain control of the spacecraft
by using the re-entry control system to stop the spin.
The crew of Gemini 8 safely returned to Earth
in the early hours of the next day.
Despite the wild ride,
completing the actual docking procedure was a vital step forward
and would be an essential process in the moon landings.
The original crew for Gemini 9,
command pilot Elliot See and pilot Charles Bassett
sadly never got the chance to experience their dream of being in space.
While on a routine flight with a jet trainer,
Elliot See tried to land the aircraft but crashed, since he missed the runway.
Both men did not survive the crash.
The mission was renamed Gemini 9A
and the backup crew was launched in June 1966.
In the following months, more Gemini missions followed.
Some notable achievements were accomplished with Gemini 11
as it flew higher than any other NASA mission before,
and the final mission, Gemini 12, set a new record for the longest spacewalk,
with 5 hours and 30 minutes.
From 1961 to 1966 a total of 12 missions were completed as part of Project Gemini,
including 2 unmanned missions and 10 crewed missions.
Project Gemini set some huge leaps forward.
The total cost for the project was 1.3 billion dollars,
which would be, due to inflation, over 10 billion dollars today!
At the end of Project Gemini in 1966,
NASA felt well positioned to achieve its ultimate goal
and the promise their President had put forward…
to send man to the moon and be the first nation to set foot on it.
NASA’s theories had been put into practice, lessons had been learned
and their crew had gained some vital experience.
All that was left now was to go out there and actually do it!
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