Word: cernan
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Dates: during 1960-1969
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...splashdown. Cameras on the deck of the Wasp picked up Gemini as soon as it loomed below the clouds, photographed its recovery by the carrier, and sent the telecast live via Early Bird satellite into millions of American and European homes. For Stafford and Co-pilot Eugene Cernan, who came "right down the pickle barrel"-within four miles of the Wasp-it was a rewarding finish to a flight that had been marred by failure and frustration...
...flying up and hitting it gently with Gemini's docking bar. Safety-conscious controllers in Houston vetoed the scheme, instead electronically commanded ATDA's movable docking collar to extend and contract, in a vain try to shake the shroud loose. Another idea was to allow Astronaut Cernan to pry or cut the shroud loose during his scheduled space walk; this was also rejected for fear that the sharp edges might puncture his space suit. Houston reluctantly called off the docking operation, reshuffled the schedule, and ordered Stafford and Cernan to back off from the ATDA and rendezvous with...
Twice the launch had been scrubbed, once on May 17 when the Agena target failed to orbit, and again earlier in the week when Gemini 9's on-board computer rejected vital data three minutes before liftoff. Now, for the third time, Astronauts Tom Stafford and Eugene Cernan wearily returned to the pad at Cape Kennedy for a mission that had the earmarks of a rueful joke...
...were kidding before, But not any more. Get your-er-selves into space Or we'll take your place. Stafford and Cernan themselves wryly presented the launch crew with a yard-long red and white baton topped by a light bulb. It was a match, they explained, that the crew was to use to achieve a successful "burn...
...first, the humorous approach seemed to work. The giant Titan 2 rocket rose on schedule from the launch pad and placed Gemini 9 in an almost perfect orbit. Then, after only three revolutions around the earth, Stafford and Cernan sighted and successfully rendezvoused with their quarry-the Augmented Target Docking Adapter (ATDA) that had been launched into or bit two days before. But there before their eyes was another disappointment...