Документ взят из кэша поисковой машины. Адрес оригинального документа : http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/roundup/online/2004/1204_p8_11.pdf Дата изменения: Tue Dec 28 22:03:50 2004 Дата индексирования: Tue Oct 2 00:23:40 2012 Кодировка: Поисковые слова: apollo 16

GEOGRAPHIC
to feature Gemini 8 in "Expeditions to the Edge"
by Catherine E. BorschИ

NATIONAL

comes down to a millisecond," Philippe Denham, senior producer and director, said. "In this particular mission, there was a millisecond where these people had to make incredible choices to come back safely." Just as amazing are the background accounts that many do not know about Gemini 8. "How many people know that for minutes, great spans of time, things were happening up there and Mission Control had no idea? In this particular case, while Mission Control is celebrating the first docking in space, a potentially life-threatening problem arises, and no one has a clue," Denham said.

The Gemini 8 reenactment in "Expeditions to the Edge" aims to humanize the mission and show the emotional journey that all involved with the mission had to go through. "Not only do we want to show how heroic the astronauts were, but also how difficult it was for the people in Mission Control. You can see what a team effort it is. That, in essence, is what we're learning during this trip and what we hope comes across in this documentary," Denham said. This Gemini 8 episode is slated to air on the National Geographic channel sometime in January.

The

blockbuster movie about Apollo 13 put NASA's heroic accomplishments on the forefront with the general public. Soon, a film about another legendary mission ­ Gemini 8 ­ will do the same. National Geographic has created a documentary television series appropriately named "Expeditions to the Edge." The series will follow 13 stories of adventure and survival as scientists, explorers and adventurers are pushed to the edge of human endurance. On Oct. 25 and 26, GRB Entertainment, the production company shooting the series for National Geographic, came to Johnson Space Center's historic Mission Control to film the Gemini 8 reenactment. In addition to a small cast of their own actors, GRB Entertainment recruited approximately 40 JSC employees to act as extras in the episode. "One of the things that was fun for us was to involve NASA personnel as much as possible. Nobody loves this stuff or lives it more than the people that work at JSC," Lars Ullberg, supervising producer, said. National Geographic chose to feature the Gemini 8 mission in the adventure series because it is a thrilling story about a very "extreme" expedition into space ­ and one that not many people know about.

Agena, the target launch vehicle, lifted off from pad 14 at 10 a.m. on March 16, 1966. With one vehicle up and one to go, Gemini 8 lifted off approximately 40 minutes later from pad 19. Everything seemed to be going according to plan. When Agena came into sight, Armstrong had no problems maneuvering his spacecraft on station with the target vehicle. Seconds later, Armstrong was happy to report to the flight controllers that they were docked. He even added, "It's ... really a smoothie ­ no noticeable oscillations at all." After the cheerful announcement, pandemonium broke loose in Mission Control. As the spacecraft went out of communications range, the real test for Gemini 8 began. Agena was designed to obey orders from the spacecraft and ground control. However, it was obvious that something was not right. As Scott looked over the control panel in the spacecraft, he saw that it did not appear that they were in level flight. The attitude ball indicator showed a 30-degree roll. All this occurred as they passed through the Earth's shadow and were out of range to talk to Mission Control. The spacecraft attitude ball continued to tumble. Scott commanded Agena to turn off its attitude control system. This worked for only four minutes. Suddenly, they began to roll again. It was apparent that the crew would need to undock to further assess the situation. After Scott hit the undock button, the spacecraft rolled even faster, spinning at the rate of one revolution per second. Very quickly, Armstrong and Scott were reaching their physiological limits to deal with the ominous situation. As a last-ditch effort, Armstrong reactivated the maneuver thrusters. The mission would have to come to an end immediately since the reentry thrusters had been activated. After locating a contingency splashdown site in the Pacific Ocean, Gemini 8 ended on the mission after just 10 hours, 41 minutes and 26 seconds. Gemini 8 encompassed many elements of a dramatic story. "What we have found in a lot of these expeditions is that the difference between great success and great tragedy

Johnson Space Center employees become stars in their own right
NASA/DeHoyos JSC2004E47007

On

Oct. 26, approximately 40 JSC employees participated as extras in a Gemini 8 reenactment for National Geographic's "Expeditions to the Edge" television series. The experience proved to be one many will never forget.
(L to R) Matthew Schottel, trajectory analyst, Curtis Peternell, International Space Station systems instructor, Bill Huebner, flight controller ­ EECOM, and Paul Felker, flight controller ­ ECLSS

"This was an absolutely amazing experience, eye-opening at the very least," Brion Au, who played an on-console flight surgeon, said. "I never realized how far the Gemini program pushed the United States space program experience." Acting in the episode also taught some JSC employees valuable history about the sometimes forgotten Gemini program. "It was interesting and, for me, very educational. I didn't know much about the Gemini mission before walking in there," Clinton Balmain, who played a guidance flight control officer, said. Zach Drewry, who was given the part of Charles "Pete" Conrad, reacted with shock after he learned he would have a speaking part in the production. "When I got there, they handed me a script and a highlighter and said, `Here are your lines.' Sure enough, I had about six lines in three different scenes," Drewry said. Performing as CAPCOM, Drewry was given the monumental task of "getting into character." It was clear from the script

that it was a very tense moment as the crew tried to regain control of the spacecraft. "Just imagining myself in the situation gave me a chill," Drewry said. "I rehearsed the lines over and over and tried not to get nervous. When I said my part, I thought I sounded a little dry. Lars would give me little instructions like `not so uptight' and `lighten up a bit.' I kept thinking, `I'm glad I'm an engineer and not an actor.'" "It'll be interesting to see the end product televised, having seen part of what went into making it," Balmain said. Drewry agrees. "I learned that making a movie is a heck of a lot harder than I had imagined, but it was a once in a lifetime opportunity I really enjoyed!" Everyone will be able to view their colleagues in a whole new light when watching the Gemini 8 episode of "Expeditions to the Edge."

"They are already doing the impossible on these expeditions," Ullberg said. "They're going to the top of Everest; they're going to the bottom of the ocean. Then these expeditions run into the unexpected, which makes the impossible even more impossible. And, it doesn't always work out. Not every expedition in the show has a happy ending." Fortunately for the NASA Family, Gemini 8 did have a happy ending. After a failed attempt to rendezvous and dock two launch vehicles in space with Gemini 6-A five months earlier, NASA decided to try again with Gemini 8. Neil Armstrong and David R. Scott, the astronaut crew for Gemini 8, would pilot the second attempt.

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Astronaut John W. Young, commander of the Apollo 16 lunar landing mission, leaps from the lunar surface as he salutes the United States flag at the Descartes landing site during the first Apollo 16 spacewalk. Astronaut Charles M. Duke, Jr., lunar module pilot, took this picture.

His father, a civil engineer, was Young's closest and most admired role model. Young graduated from Orlando High School and received a degree with highest honors in aeronautical engineering from Georgia Tech in 1952. Following graduation, he joined the Navy and, after a year's service aboard a destroyer, was sent to flight training. He flew fighter planes for four years. Young then completed test pilot training and served for three years at the Navy's Air Test Center, where he heeded the president's call to go to the Moon. His first flight as an astronaut was Gemini 3, the first manned flight of that program, with Gus Grissom, in March 1965. As Young prepared for his first flight, his obligation ruled over excitement or any other emotion. "We were just thinking about doing the job right," Young said. Later, he piloted the Command Module on the Apollo 10 mission with Tom Stafford and Gene Cernan. They completed a lunar rendezvous and scouted landing sites from lunar orbit. On his second trip to the Moon on Apollo 16, Young and Charlie Duke landed, set up scientific equipment and explored lunar highlands. The mission returned more than 200 pounds of Moon rocks gathered from three geological outings. "The Moon is a very nice place," Young said. "When we landed, we were 20 minutes behind. Because time on the Moon was so precious, what I remember most is trying to catch up." In addition to his six spaceflights, Young was a member of five backup crews. He spent 15,000 hours training as a prime and backup crewmember, mostly in simulators. He logged more than 13,200 hours of flight time, including 835 hours in space.

NASA S66-34674

NASA AS16-113-18339

Crew of Gemini 10 spaceflight, Astronauts John W. Young (left) and Michael Collins (right), arrive aboard the recovery ship U.S.S. Guadalcanal.

on engineering, operations and safety matters relating to the International Space Station, Space Shuttle upgrades and advanced human space exploration programs. Young became associate director (technical) of the Center in February 1996, overseeing technical, operational and safety of NASA programs assigned to JSC. Throughout this time, Young has remained an active astronaut, eligible to command Space Shuttle missions. Today, a dozen cardboard boxes sit on the floor just inside the doorway of his office where he has worked as JSC's associate director (technical) for the past eight years. The vanilla walls and two bookcases are bare. Propped vertically on his credenza, a book with large red letters that read "Gung Ho!" reveals evidence of his motivational leadership. Pictures, posters and other mementos scattered across a table tell of a colorful, storied past and a devotion to his life-long work. His achievements are exceptional and his major awards number more than 80, including six honorary doctorate degrees. In 1988, he was inducted into the National Aviation Hall of Fame. The legacy he leaves behind exemplifies a commitment to space exploration for humanity in its truest form. His dedication thrives on his belief in the space program. "I've been very lucky, I think," Young said. As to which moment was most memorable, he said simply, "I liked them all."

Man in the Moon
Capt. John W. Young retires after four decades dedicated to space
by Amiko Nevills

F

orty-three years ago, Navy test pilot John Young tuned in on a small, black-and-white television at the Naval Air Test Center in Florida as President John Kennedy addressed the nation.

Young's impressive career at NASA began in 1962 when he was selected among hundreds of young pilots to become an astronaut. Young was born in San Francisco. His family moved to Georgia and then Florida, where he lived most of his childhood along with his younger brother. As a boy, Young's favorite pastimes were building model airplanes ­ the first hint of his passion for aeronautics ­ and reading. "My grandpa taught me how to read," Young said, whose hobby today is still reading about facts, history and exploration. "I read the encyclopedia when I was 5."

"We were just thinking about doing the job right."
In early 1973, he became chief of the Space Shuttle Branch of the Astronaut Office at Johnson Space Center. The following year, Young, who retired from the Navy as a captain in 1976 after 25 years of military service, was named chief of the Astronaut Office, a post he held until May 1987. Young's career was one of many firsts. He commanded Space Shuttle Columbia's maiden flight in April 1981. It was the first piloted spacecraft to be tested in space with no previous unpiloted orbital flights. In late 1983, Young commanded STS-9, the first Spacelab mission. He later served as special assistant to the JSC director, advising

John W. Young

After hearing the president's bold proposal to land a man on the Moon and return him safely to Earth, Young's purpose emerged. "I thought returning safely to Earth sounded like a good idea," Young said, who has stood on the Moon, driven 16 miles in a lunar rover and slept three nights on the lunar surface. He is the only person to go into space as part of the Gemini, Apollo and Space Shuttle programs and was the first to fly into space six times ­ seven times counting his lunar liftoff. The retiring astronaut describes his extraordinary achievements in a career that spans four decades as merely doing his job.

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