Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1962-08-10
GEMINI
ProjectWiII Determine
Mans Endurance
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program want it to happen, or
prefer to wait for Apollo. For
the present, NASA talks Off
cially only Of the Is missions,
though no one sees any reason
why more ambitious projects
might not come later.
IF we ever get Centaur. :. :"
Promising Potential
This phrase. spoken wistful-
~, is frequently heard from the
men Of Gemini. Centaur Is q
hydrogen-oxygen upper stage
whose development has been
tagging but whose potential is
promising because OF the ener-
gy content of its fuel. Either
as a top stage for Titan II or
. substitute for the Agena,
Centaur would improve Gemi-
mis- capabilities enormously.
OF course, a Gemini space
craft that could fly around the
moon and survive earth-atmos-
phere re-entry would not be
"Gemini" any longer. There is
more to altering space mission
concepts than just hanging on
extra fuel tanks for added
range. But q moon looping
craft Of this sort would be q
direct follow-on to Gemini-
nowhere near so radical a de-
parture as Gemini is from
Mercury, or as Apollo will be
from Gernini. Such. q "Gemini
II" would be easily identifiable
as the offspring Of Gemini I.
:, If hydrogen-oxygen is so at
tractive for Gemini's future,
one might ask, what about an
even peppier nuclear-powered
upper stage. using atomic en-
ergy to propel the spacecraft?
There is apparently no hope
for this sort Of growth in
Gemini: nuclear upper stages
now being developed are too
heavy for Titan-type boosters
to lift off the ground.
Possible Training Vehicle
What other Jobs may mate
lrialize for Gemini after the
present program ends? One
that comes to mind is as q
training vehicle. giving astro-
nauts a real taste Of space,
such as ground stimulation can
not provide. With the posi-
bility of some reuse Of equip
ment, the cost Of such train
ing might be brought down to
IN acceptable level.
y 1t is already planned, in the
present Gemini series, to give
the crewmen q little taste of
true "man-in-space." In q few
missions the astronauts will
"depressurize the cabin, open
the hatch and stand up" &C.
cording to Mr.. Dots. They will
hardly be likely to do much
more, principally because of
limitations on the space suits
now being built for Gamini.
= In later flights 1t may be
desirable to get the men en-
tirely out Of the spacecraft and
allow them to fix things, or
even build things, in space.
This might well be the first
lStep In establishment of an or
.bital space station. A COM
pletely self contained space
suit is the only improvement
needed to give the mini
crews the required mobility.
n If a space station is estab-
illished in q low earth orbit
las many experts believe will
happens "ferry-boat" will be
needed. Gemini might turn out
jfto fill the bill even better than
the larger Apollo spacecraft,
(which is over-designed for such
! simple" missions.
II Reduce Equipment
\ With rendezvous techniques
aperfecte d and simplified, it
might be possible to reduce on
board equipment required for
routine ferrying flights. thus
increasing the weight available
yifor men and supplies.
4 Assume that q nine man
space station is in orbit, $50
miles or so above the earth
with a crew complement Of four
lthree-man Shifts" each shift
working on q schedule Of six
weeks in orbit, six weeks on
earth. At any given time, three
shifts are in the station and
the fourth is enjoying leave.
~ Now suppose that Gelnini
has been perfected to the point
fthat on a single ferrying mis-
sion 1t can carry three men
iaplus 1875 man-days of supplies
enough to support nine men
I for two weeks. "
i It is time now for Shift CA
Ito end its six-week earth-leave
rand rejoin the station. The
three shift members-at least
lone of whom Is q qualified