Excerpts from NASA's site:
"Flight, we are docked," Armstrong radioed back. "It was a real smoothie."
The Agena was designed to obey orders from both the Gemini spacecraft and ground control. The Agena soon started a command program stored in its internal system. This instructed the Agena to turn the two spacecraft, but Scott noticed they were moving the wrong direction.
"Neil, we're in a bank," he said.
Armstrong used the Gemini's orbital attitude and maneuvering system, or OAMS, thrusters to stop the tumbling. However, the roll immediately began again, and Gemini VIII was out of range of ground communications.
As Armstrong worked to regain control of the spacecraft, he noticed that the OAMS propellant was below 30 percent, an indicator that a Gemini spacecraft thruster might be the problem. Scott cycled the Agena switches off and on. Nothing helped.
Although it was not confirmed until later, a yaw OAMS thruster was firing erratically, later believed to be due to a short circuit in the wiring.
Not knowing, the crew's first reaction was to blame the Agena. So Scott pushed the undock button, and Armstrong backed Gemini away from the Agena.
Without the added mass of the Agena, the Gemini's rate of spin began to quickly accelerate. Soon after, Gemini VIII came in range of the tracking ship USNS Coastal Sentry Quebec, stationed southwest of Japan.
"We have serious problems here," Scott said. "We're tumbling end over end. We're disengaged from the Agena."
A surprised James Fucci, spacecraft communicator aboard the ship, asked what the problem was.
"We're rolling up and we can't turn anything off," Armstrong said.
As the spin rate approached one revolution per second, the astronauts' vision became blurred. The tumbling needed to be stopped.
Armstrong's quick thinking led him to turn off the entire OAMS system and then use the re-entry control system, or RCS, thrusters on the nose of the spacecraft to regain command of Gemini VIII and stop the spin.
In the post-flight investigation, no conclusive reason for thruster malfunction was found. However, for future missions, a master switch was added to the Gemini spacecraft to make it possible for astronauts to turn off individual elements of a system not working properly.
The Agena was designed to obey orders from both the Gemini spacecraft and ground control. The Agena soon started a command program stored in its internal system. This instructed the Agena to turn the two spacecraft, but Scott noticed they were moving the wrong direction.
"Neil, we're in a bank," he said.
Armstrong used the Gemini's orbital attitude and maneuvering system, or OAMS, thrusters to stop the tumbling. However, the roll immediately began again, and Gemini VIII was out of range of ground communications.
As Armstrong worked to regain control of the spacecraft, he noticed that the OAMS propellant was below 30 percent, an indicator that a Gemini spacecraft thruster might be the problem. Scott cycled the Agena switches off and on. Nothing helped.
Although it was not confirmed until later, a yaw OAMS thruster was firing erratically, later believed to be due to a short circuit in the wiring.
Not knowing, the crew's first reaction was to blame the Agena. So Scott pushed the undock button, and Armstrong backed Gemini away from the Agena.
Without the added mass of the Agena, the Gemini's rate of spin began to quickly accelerate. Soon after, Gemini VIII came in range of the tracking ship USNS Coastal Sentry Quebec, stationed southwest of Japan.
"We have serious problems here," Scott said. "We're tumbling end over end. We're disengaged from the Agena."
A surprised James Fucci, spacecraft communicator aboard the ship, asked what the problem was.
"We're rolling up and we can't turn anything off," Armstrong said.
As the spin rate approached one revolution per second, the astronauts' vision became blurred. The tumbling needed to be stopped.
Armstrong's quick thinking led him to turn off the entire OAMS system and then use the re-entry control system, or RCS, thrusters on the nose of the spacecraft to regain command of Gemini VIII and stop the spin.
In the post-flight investigation, no conclusive reason for thruster malfunction was found. However, for future missions, a master switch was added to the Gemini spacecraft to make it possible for astronauts to turn off individual elements of a system not working properly.
She was emotionally drained from the life and death risks involved in the space program and didn't want to go through any more. They later seperated because of similar related issues.
He is in the movie. He's played by Lukas Haas.
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- How long is First Man?2 hours and 21 minutes
- When was First Man released?October 12, 2018
- What is the IMDb rating of First Man?7.3 out of 10
- Who stars in First Man?
- Who wrote First Man?
- Who directed First Man?
- Who was the composer for First Man?
- Who was the producer of First Man?
- Who was the executive producer of First Man?
- Who was the cinematographer for First Man?
- Who was the editor of First Man?
- Who are the characters in First Man?Neil Armstrong, Janet Shearon, Deke Slayton, Buzz Aldrin, and Dave Scott
- What is the plot of First Man?A look back at the life of astronaut Neil Armstrong and the legendary space mission that led him to become the first man to walk on the Moon on July 20, 1969.
- What was the budget for First Man?$59 million
- How much did First Man earn at the worldwide box office?$106 million
- How much did First Man earn at the US box office?$44.9 million
- What is First Man rated?PG-13
- What genre is First Man?Biographical, Drama, Historical Drama, and Historical
- How many awards has First Man won?32 awards
- How many awards has First Man been nominated for?224 nominations
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