Gemini 7 (officially Gemini VII)
[ With Gemini IV, NASA changed to Roman numerals for Gemini mission designations.] was a 1965 crewed spaceflight in
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...
's
Gemini program
Project Gemini () was the second United States human spaceflight program to fly. Conducted after the first American crewed space program, Project Mercury, while the Apollo program was still in early development, Gemini was conceived in 1961 and ...
. It was the fourth crewed
Gemini flight, the twelfth crewed American spaceflight, and the twentieth crewed spaceflight including Soviet flights and
X-15
The North American X-15 is a Hypersonic speed, hypersonic rocket-powered aircraft which was operated by the United States Air Force and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as part of the List of X-planes, X-plane series of ...
flights above the
Kármán line
The Kármán line (or von Kármán line ) is a conventional definition of the Outer space#Boundary, edge of space; it is widely but not universally accepted. The international record-keeping body Fédération Aéronautique Internationale, FAI ( ...
. The crew of
Frank Borman
Frank Frederick Borman II (March 14, 1928 – November 7, 2023) was an American United States Air Force (USAF) colonel (United States), colonel, aeronautical engineer, NASA astronaut, test pilot, and businessman. He was the commander of Apollo ...
and
Jim Lovell
James Arthur Lovell Jr. ( ; born March 25, 1928) is an American retired astronaut, naval aviator, test pilot and mechanical engineer. In 1968, as command module pilot of Apollo 8, he became, with Frank Borman and William Anders, one of the fi ...
spent nearly 14 days in space, making a total of 206 orbits. Their spacecraft was the passive target for the first crewed
space rendezvous
Space is a three-dimensional continuum containing positions and directions. In classical physics, physical space is often conceived in three linear dimensions. Modern physicists usually consider it, with time, to be part of a boundless ...
performed by the crew of
Gemini 6A.
Crew
Backup crew
Support crew
*
Charles Bassett
Charles Arthur "Charlie" Bassett II (December 30, 1931 – February 28, 1966) (Major, USAF) was an American electrical engineer and United States Air Force test pilot. He went to Ohio State University for two years and later graduated from Tex ...
(Houston CAPCOM)
*
Alan Bean
Alan LaVern Bean (March 15, 1932 – May 26, 2018) was an American naval officer and aviator, aeronautical engineer, test pilot, NASA astronaut and painter. He was selected to become an astronaut by NASA in 1963 as part of Astronaut Grou ...
(Cape CAPCOM)
*
Eugene Cernan
Eugene Andrew Cernan (; March 14, 1934 – January 16, 2017) was an American astronaut, United States naval aviator, naval aviator, electrical engineer, aeronautical engineer, and fighter pilot.
Cernan traveled into space three times and ...
(Houston CAPCOM)
*
Elliot See
Elliot McKay See Jr. (July 23, 1927 – February 28, 1966) was an American engineer, United States naval aviator, naval aviator, test pilot and NASA astronaut.
See received an appointment to the United States Merchant Marine Academy in 1945. H ...
(Houston CAPCOM)
Mission parameters
* launch
Mass
Mass is an Intrinsic and extrinsic properties, intrinsic property of a physical body, body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the physical quantity, quantity of matter in a body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physi ...
: , landing mass:
[
At December 9 ]epoch
In chronology and periodization, an epoch or reference epoch is an instant in time chosen as the origin of a particular calendar era. The "epoch" serves as a reference point from which time is measured.
The moment of epoch is usually decided b ...
, five days after launch:
* Perigee
An apsis (; ) is the farthest or nearest point in the orbit of a planetary body about its primary body. The line of apsides (also called apse line, or major axis of the orbit) is the line connecting the two extreme values.
Apsides perta ...
:
* Apogee
An apsis (; ) is the farthest or nearest point in the orbit of a planetary body about its primary body. The line of apsides (also called apse line, or major axis of the orbit) is the line connecting the two extreme values.
Apsides perta ...
:
* Inclination
Orbital inclination measures the tilt of an object's orbit around a celestial body. It is expressed as the angle between a reference plane and the orbital plane or axis of direction of the orbiting object.
For a satellite orbiting the Eart ...
: 28.9°
* Period: 90.54 min
Stationkeeping with GT-6A
* Start: December 15, 1965 19:33 UTC
* End: December 16, 1965 00:52 UTC
* Duration: 5 hours, 19 minutes
Objectives
Gemini 7 was originally intended to fly after Gemini 6, but the original Gemini 6 mission was cancelled after the failure during launch of the Agena Target Vehicle
The Agena Target Vehicle (; ATV), also known as Gemini-Agena Target Vehicle (GATV), was an uncrewed spacecraft used by NASA during its Gemini program to develop and practice orbital space rendezvous and docking techniques, and to perform large ...
with which it was meant to rendezvous and dock
The word dock () in American English refers to one or a group of human-made structures that are involved in the handling of boats or ships (usually on or near a shore). In British English, the term is not used the same way as in American Engl ...
. The objective of rendezvous was so important, that it was decided to fly the alternate Gemini 6A mission concurrently with Gemini 7, using the latter as the rendezvous target.
This 14-day mission required NASA to solve some of the problems of long-duration space flight, such as stowage of waste (the crew had practiced stuffing waste paper behind their seats before the flight). Timing their workday to match that of the prime shift ground crews, both men worked and slept at the same time. Gemini 7 conducted twenty experiments, the most of any Gemini mission, including studies of nutrition in space. The astronauts also evaluated a lightweight spacesuit, the G5C, which proved uncomfortable when worn for a long time in the Gemini spacecraft's hot, cramped quarters. The high point of the mission came on the eleventh day with the rendezvous with Gemini 6A.
Both astronauts, heeding the advice of Pete Conrad
Charles "Pete" Conrad Jr. (June 2, 1930 – July 8, 1999) was an American NASA astronaut, aeronautical engineer, naval officer, aviator, and test pilot who commanded the Apollo 12 mission, on which he became the third person to walk on t ...
who had flown for eight days on Gemini 5
Gemini 5 (officially Gemini V) With Gemini IV, NASA changed to Roman numerals for Gemini mission designations.
was a 1965 crewed spaceflight in NASA's Project Gemini. It was the third crewed Gemini flight, the eleventh crewed American spacefligh ...
, took books along to read. Gemini 7 held the record for the longest space flight until Soyuz 9
Soyuz 9 (, ''Union 9'') was a June, 1970, Soviet crewed space flight. The two-man crew of Andriyan Nikolayev and Vitaly Sevastyanov broke the five-year-old space endurance record held by Gemini 7, with their nearly 18-day flight. The mission ...
in June 1970, and was the longest crewed space flight in U.S. history until the Skylab 2 mission of May and June 1973.
Flight
Launch went without any problems and all systems on the Titan II performed nominally. Some slight pogo vibrations were detected starting at T+110 seconds into launch, but unlike with Gemini 5 where the astronauts experienced momentary vision and speech problems, Borman reported only feeling a very light shaking sensation and Lovell nothing. After separating from the spent rocket stage, they turned the spacecraft around and proceeded to station keep with the rocket stage, a maneuver first tried on Gemini 4
Gemini 4 (officially Gemini IV) With Gemini IV, NASA changed to Roman numerals for Gemini mission designations. was the second crewed spaceflight in NASA's Project Gemini, occurring in June 1965. It was the tenth crewed American spaceflight (in ...
. The Gemini 4 attempt was unsuccessful, due to the limited knowledge at the time of the complex orbital mechanics involved. Gemini 7 flew in formation with its upper stage for fifteen minutes, at which time Borman stopped because he felt too much fuel was being consumed, and the stage was moving erratically as it vented its own remaining fuel.
They spent the rest of their first day in space doing some experiments and eating their first meal. Their sleep periods were scheduled at the same time unlike previous missions and they were able to get some sleep. The next morning they were awoken at 9:06 am EST and given the morning's news, which included the collision of two airliners over New York. For the first time during a flight, one of the crew was allowed to take off his suit. Borman and Lovell had planned to both take them off two days into the mission, when they were satisfied that the environmental system was working properly. The NASA managers did not like this idea, and said that at least one crew member had to be wearing a suit at all times. Borman wore his suit and sweated profusely, but agreed to let Lovell stay out of his suit, as Lovell was the larger of the two, and it required a lot of effort to get in and out of a suit in little more space than the front seat of a car.
Later, the flight controllers ordered Lovell to don his suit, and Borman to get out of his. This was because the doctors wanted to see the effects of being suited and unsuited on the astronauts. At 148 hours into the flight, Borman got his chance to cool down. Finally, the NASA managers decided that there was little benefit in having the crew members suited, and so relented after a couple of days. Going suitless greatly improved the astronauts' comfort and mobility inside the cramped spacecraft.
The lessons learned from Gemini 5 allowed Lovell and Borman to have improved personal hygiene during their mission. They showered with an anti-dandruff shampoo for two weeks prior to the flight to curb the problems their predecessors had experienced with skin flakes accumulating inside the spacecraft and removal of the pressure suits in-flight also helped keep their skin more moist and less prone to drying out. They were also supplied with sanitation wipes which proved highly beneficial in keeping clean. Odors were not a problem except when they opened the storage bins where waste was stowed.
In their postflight debriefing, Borman and Lovell noted that the food rations had been generally of good quality, but they strongly disliked the freeze-dried protein bites and advised against them being included on future missions. They also suggested that more breakfast items would have been nice, to avoid including bite-sized food that could easily produce crumbs that get loose in the cabin, and improving the packaging of some items. Because of the lengthy mission, Gemini 7 had a significantly larger supply of food than previous flights, and the astronauts often found it difficult to remove the tightly packed food containers, some of which had also not been stowed in the correct order for the day of the flight they were intended to be eaten.
As part of the in-flight medical experiments, the crew were required to collect and save some of their bodily wastes for post-flight analysis, a task they described as less-than-enjoyable. The urine collection device proved particularly difficult and unpleasant to use, especially because of its habit of leaking urine, which happened several times during the flight. Borman suggested afterwards that a tube and valve mechanism be added to the spacecraft to simply release urine into space, an idea that would be realized on the Apollo command module
The Apollo command and service module (CSM) was one of two principal components of the United States Apollo (spacecraft), Apollo spacecraft, used for the Apollo program, which landed astronauts on the Moon between 1969 and 1972. The CSM functi ...
.
The crew also strongly objected to the requirement that they record every use of drinking water and argued instead that they could simply use the meter on the water hose to gauge the amount consumed.
After five days, they had performed four orbital adjustment burns that put them in a circular orbit. This orbit would last for at least 100 days without decay
Decay may refer to:
Science and technology
* Bit decay, in computing
* Decay time (fall time), in electronics
* Distance decay, in geography
* Software decay, in computing
Biology
* Decomposition of organic matter
* Mitochondrial decay, in g ...
ing, more than stable enough for the passive target during a space rendezvous
Space is a three-dimensional continuum containing positions and directions. In classical physics, physical space is often conceived in three linear dimensions. Modern physicists usually consider it, with time, to be part of a boundless ...
.
On their 31st orbit, Gemini 7 observed the underwater launch and exhaust trail of a Polaris missile
The UGM-27 Polaris missile was a two-stage solid-fuel rocket, solid-fueled nuclear warhead, nuclear-armed submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM). As the United States Navy's first SLBM, it served from 1961 to 1980.
In the mid-1950s the Navy ...
from the submarine off Florida.
Rendezvous
Gemini 6A was launched on December 15, after a three-day-long delay due to a malfunction and engine shutdown immediately after ignition. It entered into an orbit, and was briefly visible from Gemini 7 just after launch. Borman and Lovell were also able to see the contrail
Contrails (; short for "condensation trails") or vapour trails are line-shaped clouds produced by aircraft engine exhaust or changes in air pressure, typically at aircraft cruising altitudes several kilometres/miles above the Earth's surface. ...
from the launch.
The plan called for the rendezvous to take place on the fourth orbit of Gemini 6A. Their first burn came 94 minutes after launch when they increased their velocity by . Due to their lower orbit they were gaining on Gemini 7 and were behind. The next burn was at 2 hours and 18 minutes when Gemini 6A made a phase adjustment to put them on the same orbit
In celestial mechanics, an orbit (also known as orbital revolution) is the curved trajectory of an object such as the trajectory of a planet around a star, or of a natural satellite around a planet, or of an artificial satellite around an ...
al inclination as Gemini 7. They now only trailed by .
The radar
Radar is a system that uses radio waves to determine the distance ('' ranging''), direction ( azimuth and elevation angles), and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It is a radiodetermination method used to detect and track ...
on Gemini 6A first made contact with Gemini 7 at 3 hours and 15 minutes when they were away. A third burn put them into a orbit. As they slowly gained, Walter Schirra put Gemini 6A's computer in charge of the rendezvous, and at five hours and four minutes, he saw a bright object that he at first thought was the star Sirius
Sirius is the brightest star in the night sky. Its name is derived from the Greek word (Latin script: ), meaning 'glowing' or 'scorching'. The star is designated Canis Majoris, Latinized to Alpha Canis Majoris, and abbr ...
, but was in fact Gemini 7.
After several more burns the two spacecraft were only apart. The burns had only used of fuel on Gemini 6A, leaving plenty of fuel. During the next 270 minutes the crews moved as close as , talking over the radio. At one stage the spacecraft were station-keeping so well that neither crew had to make any burns for 20 minutes.
As the sleep periods approached, Gemini 6A made a separation burn and slowly drifted out to 16 kilometers, to prevent an accidental collision in the night. Gemini 6A reentered the next day, landing within of the planned site, the first truly accurate atmospheric reentry
Atmospheric entry (sometimes listed as Vimpact or Ventry) is the movement of an object from outer space into and through the gases of an atmosphere of a planet, dwarf planet, or natural satellite. Atmospheric entry may be ''uncontrolled entry ...
.
Last few days
By this time, the novelty of spaceflight had worn off for the crew of Gemini 7. They had spent 11 days in space and had three more to go. They were doing little more than drifting around the Earth and the incentive of the rendezvous was over. Borman read ''Roughing It
''Roughing It'' is a book of semi-autobiographical travel literature by Mark Twain. It was written in 1870–71 and published in 1872, following his first travel book '' The Innocents Abroad'' (1869). ''Roughing It'' is dedicated to Twain's m ...
'' by Mark Twain
Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910), known by the pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist, and essayist. He was praised as the "greatest humorist the United States has produced," with William Fau ...
and Lovell ''Drums along the Mohawk
''Drums Along the Mohawk'' is a 1939 American historical drama film based upon a 1936 novel of the same name by American author Walter D. Edmonds. The film stars Henry Fonda and Claudette Colbert, was produced by Darryl F. Zanuck, and direct ...
'' by Walter D. Edmonds.
In the Discovery Channel
Discovery Channel, known as The Discovery Channel from 1985 to 1995, and often referred to as simply Discovery, is an American cable channel that is best known for its ongoing reality television shows and promotion of pseudoscience.
It init ...
2008 documentary '' When We Left Earth: The NASA Missions'' second episode titled "Friends and Rivals", Borman states the last three days of the mission were "bad".
Malfunctions began: in a repeat of Gemini 5, some of the thrusters stopped working. After the flight this was traced to the fact that they had an old type of laminate in the thrust chamber. Also on the 12th day, the fuel cell
A fuel cell is an electrochemical cell that converts the chemical energy of a fuel (often hydrogen fuel, hydrogen) and an oxidizing agent (often oxygen) into electricity through a pair of redox reactions. Fuel cells are different from most bat ...
s started to give only a partial amount of power. The ship's batteries were enough to sustain it for the remainder of the flight.
Finally the last day of the mission arrived and the crew stored everything for reentry. The retro-rockets worked perfectly after 14 days in space. They landed within of the targeted landing point.
The crewmen were somewhat weakened by their time in space, but both were in good health and were up and about after a good night's sleep on the recovery ship . They were also in good spirits: during recovery, they joked to Mission Control about getting married after having spent so long together in space.
The Gemini 7 and 6A missions were supported by the following U.S. Department of Defense
The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD, or DOD) is an executive department of the U.S. federal government charged with coordinating and supervising the six U.S. armed services: the Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force, Space Force, t ...
resources: 10,125 personnel, 125 aircraft and 16 ships.
Insignia
The patch features an Olympic torch
The Olympic flame is a Olympic symbols, symbol used in the Olympic movement. It is also a symbol of continuity between ancient and modern games. The Olympic flame is lit at Olympia, Greece, several months before the Olympic Games. This ceremony s ...
, symbolizing the marathon
The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of kilometres ( 26 mi 385 yd), usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There ...
-like length of the mission. There is a small stylized image of a Gemini spacecraft and the Roman numeral
Roman numerals are a numeral system that originated in ancient Rome and remained the usual way of writing numbers throughout Europe well into the Late Middle Ages. Numbers are written with combinations of letters from the Latin alphabet, ea ...
VII for seven. The crew did not put its names on the patch, although souvenir versions did include the flight and crew names. The crew patch was designed by Houston artist and animator Bill Bradley.
As with a few other missions, the backup crew produced a spoof of the insignia, featuring an unlit torch, a lighter and the words "NEED A LIGHT - FRANK? JIM?"
Spacecraft location
The spacecraft is on display at the National Air and Space Museum
The National Air and Space Museum (NASM) of the Smithsonian Institution is a museum in Washington, D.C., in the United States, dedicated to history of aviation, human flight and space exploration.
Established in 1946 as the National Air Museum, ...
, Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...
See also
* Space capsule
A space capsule is a spacecraft designed to transport cargo, scientific experiments, and/or astronauts to and from space. Capsules are distinguished from other spacecraft by the ability to survive reentry and return a payload to the Earth's surfa ...
* Space exploration
Space exploration is the process of utilizing astronomy and space technology to investigate outer space. While the exploration of space is currently carried out mainly by astronomers with telescopes, its physical exploration is conducted bo ...
* Space suit
A space suit (or spacesuit) is an environmental suit used for protection from the harsh environment of outer space, mainly from its vacuum as a highly specialized pressure suit, but also its temperature extremes, as well as radiation and ...
* Splashdown
Splashdown is the method of landing a spacecraft or launch vehicle in a body of water, usually by parachute. This has been the primary recovery method of American capsules including NASA’s Mercury, Gemini, Apollo and Orion along with th ...
* U.S. space exploration history on U.S. stamps
*Timeline of longest spaceflights
Many of the first human spaceflights set records measured in hours and days, the space station missions of the 1970s and 1980s pushed this to weeks and months, and by the 1990s the record was pushed to over a year and has remained there into the ...
References
Bibliography
*
External links
NASA Gemini 7/Gemini 6 press kit - November 29, 1965
Gemini 7 Mission Report (PDF) January 1966
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gemini 07
Spacecraft launched in 1965
1965 in the United States
Project Gemini missions
Human spaceflights
Individual spacecraft in the Smithsonian Institution
Spacecraft launched by Titan rockets
Spacecraft which reentered in 1965
December 1965
Jim Lovell
Frank Borman
Successful space missions