Image courtesy of NASA
This week sees the 50th anniversary of the first spacewalk conducted by an American astronaut. On 3rd June 1965, NASA astronaut Ed White opened the spacecraft hatch during the Gemini 4 mission and, using a hand-held oxygen-jet gun, maneuvered himself out of the capsule and into the zero gravity of space.
The extra-vehicular activity (EVA) lasted 23 minutes, during which time White floated free outside the spacecraft, attached by an 8-metre tether. The EVA began whilst the craft was over the Pacific Ocean and ended over the Gulf of Mexico. This photograph, taken by the second of the two-man crew, James McDivitt, shows the oxygen jet-gun in White’s right hand, although it ran out after only 3 minutes, after which time, White moved around by a combination of pulling on the tether and twisting his body. When re-entering the capsule at the end of the EVA, White was recorded as saying "I'm coming back in - and it's the saddest moment of my life".
The US, in fact, were beaten by just a few weeks to the prize of being the first nation to perform a spacewalk, when Soviet cosmonaut Alexey Leonov left the confines of the tiny Voskhod 2 capsule on the 18th March 1965 for a 12-minute EVA.
NASA has released the below half-hour documentary in celebration of the 50 years of extravehicular activities, that began with the first two EVAs conducted by Russian Alexey Leonov and American astronaut Edward White in 1965.
The extra-vehicular activity (EVA) lasted 23 minutes, during which time White floated free outside the spacecraft, attached by an 8-metre tether. The EVA began whilst the craft was over the Pacific Ocean and ended over the Gulf of Mexico. This photograph, taken by the second of the two-man crew, James McDivitt, shows the oxygen jet-gun in White’s right hand, although it ran out after only 3 minutes, after which time, White moved around by a combination of pulling on the tether and twisting his body. When re-entering the capsule at the end of the EVA, White was recorded as saying "I'm coming back in - and it's the saddest moment of my life".
The US, in fact, were beaten by just a few weeks to the prize of being the first nation to perform a spacewalk, when Soviet cosmonaut Alexey Leonov left the confines of the tiny Voskhod 2 capsule on the 18th March 1965 for a 12-minute EVA.
NASA has released the below half-hour documentary in celebration of the 50 years of extravehicular activities, that began with the first two EVAs conducted by Russian Alexey Leonov and American astronaut Edward White in 1965.
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