Page 11 - Gemini Program News Today

Than ever before. on september 17th 1962 armstrong was introduced as one of the 9 new nasa astronauts he was one of 2 civilians in the group the rest were active military pilots these men would take part in the gemini program which would feature a 2 manned spacecraft. that same evening armstrongs parents viola and stephen were special guests on a popular t.v. quiz program. the

Mcdevitt. john young. and frank borman. in june 1902 neil armstrong applied to become an astronaut. at this point in his life armstrong was trying to cope with a very serious personal tragedy. his 2 year old daughter karen died of a brain tumor in january $962.00. armstrong dealt with his grief by working harder than ever before. on september 17th 1962 armstrong was introduced as one of the 9 astronauts he was one of 2 civilians in the group the rest were active military pilots these men would t...

Than ever before. on september 17th 1962 armstrong was introduced as one of the 9 new nasa astronauts he was one of 2 civilians in the group the rest were active military pilots these men would take part in the gemini program which would feature a 2 manned spacecraft. to go to that same evening armstrongs parents file and stephen were special guests on a popular t.v. quiz program. the

In late 61, early 62, i forget about which, and he orbited for 24 hours. nasa just says weve. were probably caught up in the gemini program. . he became good friends with jfk. president kennedy and the kennedy family. . john kennedy gave nasa orders not to let him fly anymore, because he didnt want to the kill a national hero. ment -- he figured it out, as you know, and he got into politics. he came back to fly in 1998 on the shuttle discovery at the age of 77, and by golly, when he got

>> it was a two-manned spacecraft. the gemini program was specifically to show that we could do a rendezvous and dock. >> in order to get to the moon, you had to have the capability of two weeks in space. you had to be able to rendezvous. you had to be able to do eva, get outside the spacecraft and have a guided reentry. we practiced all those missions in gemini. so gemini was an extremely part of theprogram. >> reporter: in 1964, on gemini iv the first american performed an eva, extra vehicular...

The gemini program was specifically to show that we could do a rendezvous and dock. >> in order to get to the moon, you had to have a capability of two weeks in space. you had to be able to rendezvous. you had to be able to -- do e.v.a., get outside the spacecraft in a space suit, and you had to have a guided re-entry. we practiced all of those missions in gemini. so gemini was an extremely important part of the lunar program. >> on june 3rd, 1965, on gemini iv, astronaut edward white became the...

The gemini program was specifically to show that we could do a rendezvous and dock. >> in order to get to the moon, you had to have a capability of two weeks in space. you had to be able to rendezvous. you had to be able to -- do e.v.a., get outside the spacecraft in a space suit, and you had to have a guided re-entry. we practiced all of those missions in gemini. so gemini was an extremely important part of the lunar program. >> on june 3rd, 1965, on gemini iv, astronaut edward white became the...

They are going to place the enterprise and told us a little bit about how its going to go down. we have that story coming up on "happening now," a preview, if you will of what the public will actually get to see. jon: getting a little crowded on the flight deck there at the enterprise. jenna: they were sitting in a barge on the enterprise when we were there. you can imagine how big this thing is and what an immense feat it will be to lift it right up and put it on the enterprise deck. jon: its h...

Way to orbit. when he got there, he had more problems. he had a failed thruster that forced him to fly manually and you may know the story about his faulty heat shield. we thought he was going to burn up on re-entry. he had a very, very tense ride back to earth. >> wow. talk to me about the mood of the country. i know you were a young boy at the time but was it a nation coming together, being inspired by watching these astronauts like john glenn? >> everything stopped when john glenn or alan she...

Astronauts. we knew that the russians had cosmonauts that would follow like the dog. i think we expected that the mercury program would set the pace and would lead toward the apollo program but we were smart enough to fill the gap with the gemini program and that gave me through being in the right place at the right time an opportunity to fly on gemini 12. so i think, we, sort of lagged behind but it was gemini 10, 11 and 12 that caught up. but then of course we were set behind again he about th...