Gemini 9 Debriefing, 1966

Text

This text came with the file. It may have mistakes. When the text and the image disagree, the image is right.

U . S . NAVAL RESEARCH L ABO RATORY
WASHINGTON , D. C. 20390
Code 7020
21 June 1966
Dr. Homer E. Newell
Associate Administrator
Space Science and Applications
National Aeronautics and Space Ad.ministration
Washington, D. c.
20546
Dear Homer :
First, in behalf of the NRL- GSFC collaborators in Gemini Experiment S- 9,
I want to express deep gratification at t he strong int erest in and concern for
the success of our experiment shown by you and by Dr. George Mueller.
The
substantial help that both of you and your associates in NASA have given us
is much appreciated.
The proposal to include two high- altitude orbits in the flight plan for
Gemini mission XI has been carefully examined by physicists at MSC
Houston,
as well as by our joint NRL-Goddard group .
At a meeting in my office yester­
day with officials from NASA Headquarters and from MSC, Houston, we agreed
that the S- 9 experiment would not be hurt if the flight plan included t wo
elliptic orbits bavine an altitude of 750 nautical miles at apogee (approxi­
mately over Australia) during the 26th and 27th orbits .
Our emulsion stack
apparatus would be retrieved from the retroadapter section during the first
EVA, and stored inside the Gemini capsule in a manner suggested by Messrs .
Joseph Lill and Peter Higgins of MSC, with an orientation that would minimize
the effect s of background radiation incident on the window face of the package .
In short, we believe that the proposed high-altitude orbits are compatible
with the S- 9 experiment.
May I digress t o say that we in the NRL group are looking forward to
favorable consideration by the Manned Space Flight Experiments Board of our
recent Apollo proposals for cosmic- ray studies outside the magnetosphere, and
for observations of cosmic y- rays in earth- orbiting Apollo vehicles .
With warm regards,
Sincerely,
J.><urice 1:!3hief Scientist
Laboratory for Cosmic Ray Physics
Principal Investigator, s-9)
P . S.
A list of those attending the meeti ng in my office yesterday is attached.
In an earlier meeting several weeks ago, we benefited from participation by
✓
Astronauts Charles Conrad and William Anders .
)\ ~
~ff'
I
• ~
cc : Dr. George Mueller
Mr . Leroy To.y
~ , r<"