Gemini 4 Experiment Debriefing, 1967

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M-913-65-04
ADDITIONAL GT-4 FLIGHT PLAN ACTIVITIES
Three additional special engineering and operational objectives are now
planned for the first four orbits of the GT-4 Mission:
1.
Demonstration of extravehicular activities (EVA) using a 25 foot
umbilical.
Potential future application includes crew transfer, in­
flight repair, and inspection of orbiting objects.
2.
Demonstration of extravehicular maneuvering using a simple, one­
man propulsion unit.
This device could be used with or without
a spacecraft tether on future missions.
3.
Demonstration of rendezvous with the booster second stage.
This
activity wil I provide valuable early information and maneuvering
procedures necessary to rendezvous with a target vehicle.
Flashing
lights identical to those designed for the Gemini/Agena Vehicle
have been insta I led on the booster second stage for th is test.
The Flight Plan sequence involves post-launch separation from the launch
vehicle, then maneuvering to stop the spacecraft separation velocity. The
first two orbits wil I be flown with the spacecraft at distances less than one
quarter of a mile from the launch vehicle.
Nighttime separation will be
sufficient to prevent the flashing lights from disturbing the pilot's visual dark
adaptation.
The first orbit will be occupied with operational checks of the
spacecraft guidance, maneuvering, and environmental control systems.
The
pilots will utilize the second orbit to prepare for the extravehicular activity.
This procedure involves unstowing and assembling a 25-foot umbilical, the
emergency oxygen pack, a maneuvering unit, and the cameras.
Over Hawaii,
at daybreak, near the end of the second orbit, the cabin will be depressurized
and Jim McDivitt will maneuver to within close proximity of the booster.
At
this point, the right hatch will be opened and Ed White will climb out and
hold on the right forward portion of the spacecraft unti I McDivitt gives him a
release command.
Upon command, White wi II push off slowly and reorient
himself with the hand-held maneuvering unit to face the booster.
A 35-mm still
camera (Zeiss-Contarex) mounted on the maneuvering unit will be used to photo­
graph the booster and spacecraft with various earth/sky backgrounds.
After
testing his ability to maneuver in a zero gravity environment, White will
maneuver back toward the spacecraft and ingress.
The total time separated
from the spacecraft will be approximately 10 minutes.
He will be inside
with the cabin repressurized by the time the spacecraft posses over Ascension
Island on the start of the third orbit.
Shortly ofter passing Ascension, McDivitt wil I maneuver ahead of the booster
with 5 feet per second separation velocity.
Because this maneuver places the
spacecraft in a higher altitude and longer period orbit than the booster, it will
rise above and fall behind the booster.
One orbit later, the spacecraft
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