Preliminary Gemini 4 Crew Debriefing, Part II, 1965

This is a preliminary transcript of Part II of the Gemini 4 (GT-4) flight crew debriefing, prepared by NASA's Spacecraft Operations Branch, Flight Crew Support Division, and dated June 18, 1965. The debriefing began aboard the recovery ship USS Wasp and ended at the Manned Spacecraft Center. In it, astronauts McDivitt and White discuss how the spacecraft systems performed, including the platform, OAMS, RCS and control modes. They also cover operational checks, visual sightings, experiments, mission planning and training, and give recommendations for future crews.

From the source:Release of 2026-06-12 Incident: 6/9/65, North Atlantic Ocean. This document is a preliminary transcript (Part II) derived from voice recordings of the Gemini 4 flight crew debriefing taken aboard the recovery ship, USS Wasp, on June 9, 1965. Part II of this document contains the “Visual Sightings” section of the debriefing (pages 196-224), where astronauts James McDivitt and Edward White describe their observations while aboard the spacecraft.

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c l osed.
8 .8 Belts
White The bel t s worked satisfactorily.
McDivitt Yes , mine wor ked very good .
8.8 Harness
McDivitt Harness . Okay .
White The harnes s was satisfactory .
8 .8 Life Vests
McDivitt Life vests. Very good.
White Very good .
McDivivitt I might comment on those l i fe vests. I never
took my life vest off my r estraint harness the
whole time. It wasn't i n the way at all and I
was amazed that I didn't pop them. I always pop
them in the simulations .
White I was waiting for you to pop one. But I was sur
prised with the ease I could t ake t hem of f and
put them on weightless. Ther e 's just no compari
son at a l l. That's an easy task.
8.8 Waste Disposal Syst em
White I thought the defecati on bags worked as well as
anything we had. Ther e isn't anything you're
going t o do to make it go to the bottom of the