Word: cernan
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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...
...Adapter (ATDA) because its protective shroud had not shaken loose, the two astronauts were exhausted by three difficult but largely successful rendezvous attempts (TIME, June 10). Even so, the Gemini 9 crew hoped to salvage most of the mission by successfully completing their last and most dramatic assignment: Astronaut Cernan's scheduled 21-hour walk in space. "Hallelujah!" shouted Cernan as he opened his hatch and emerged into space on schedule...
Clad in his cumbersome space suit and connected to Gemini by a white, 25-ft. oxygen and communications cord, Cernan methodically began his work. He attached a rearview mirror to the docking bar near Gemini's nose so that Stafford could watch and photograph him through a forward-facing window while he maneuvered near the aft end of the craft. Just behind the hatch, he clamped a 16-mm. movie camera into place...
...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...
...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...