Word: spacecrafts
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1960-1969
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...cell's hydrogen and oxygen are both stored in spherical tanks in a supercold liquid state. Warmed by electric heaters, they turn to gas, build up pressure and push themselves into the cells. And those heaters are among the least complicated devices on the spacecraft: a filament of gold-plated wire curving around the tank. The same type of device is a veteran of all the manned Mer cury and Gemini flights, being used to convert liquid oxygen into gas for the astronauts to breathe. When oxygen pressure started falling in Gemini 5, it was a sure sign that...
...oxygen tank heater would function. And getting at the heater itself was out of the question. Located in the adapter section, it was inaccessible to the crew. The astronauts flicked switches off and on again and again, trying somehow to stir the system into life. They maneuvered the spacecraft around so chat its blunt end, which housed the fuel-cell system, would get the full impact of the sun's rays. But the sun was no help. By this time the astronauts had turned off the radar, radio, computer and some of the environment-control systems. They were consuming...
...anxious quiet set in as Gemini 5 swept over the Atlantic on the beginning of its third revolution. Along with most of the U.S., the astronauts' families huddled close to their TV sets, waiting for some word. Almost everyone was convinced that the spacecraft would have to be brought down during the sixth revolution, before its orbital track took it away from the Pacific recovery area that would be its last convenient rescue location for many hours...
...hope we don't have to use them, but it will be a good exercise for them, and they'll be there if you need them." While they talked, though, the oxygen pressure dropped still lower−to 95 Ibs. If it fell to 20 Ibs., the spacecraft would have to switch to its back-up batteries, which produce just enough power to handle an orbit and a half, plus re-entry and recovery time...
...fifth revolution, Kraft faced his responsibility. Go? Or no go? Should he bring his ship down or reach for 18 revolutions? If he aborted the flight now, the astronauts would land in the Pacific recovery area where there were no helicopters within reach. At 18 revolutions, the spacecraft could splash down southwest of Bermuda, in the primary recovery area. The flight director called in his engineers, conferred with top NASA brass. Pride and prestige were involved; no manned U.S. spacecraft had ever failed to complete its planned mission. But Kraft, as ever, was the cool and deliberate flight engineer...