Documents / Official release
This NASA file from 1965 combines Mission Operation Report M-913-65-04 on the Gemini 4 (GT-4) flight with related correspondence. Memoranda from the Associate Administrator for Manned Space Flight describe the planned four-day mission with James McDivitt and Edward White, including a spacewalk, a rendezvous with the booster second stage and thirteen experiments. Later letters and telegrams from NASA's Manned Space Science office concern the astronaut debriefing and requests for GT-4 photography and film for scientific analysis.
From the source: Release of 2026-06-12 Incident: June 3-7, 1965, Low Earth Orbit. Gemini IV was the second crewed mission of the Gemini series. Astronauts James McDivitt and Edward White successfully completed the four-day flight between June 3 and June 7, 1965. The mission included the first American spacewalk. This collection of documents contains a transcription of the astronauts recounting their observations of bright particles outside the spacecraft, dated circa June 25, 1967, on pages 78-81, and page 101.
M-913-65-04 will trail 16 miles behind the booster. At this point, a spacecraft retardation maneuver of 13 feet per second will initiate the visual rendezvous sequence. The spacecraft will approach the booster from behind and below. Because of unknown variation in the atmospheric density and drag of the slowly tumbling booster, the exact approach trajectory cannot be predicted. The flight crew will measure elevation angles of the booster and wil I initiate rendezvous maneuvers when the booster is approximately 45 degrees elevation angle a bove the spacecraft. By observing the movement of the booster with respect to the star background and with respect to the spacecraft inertia l platform display , the crew can determine the proper lateral maneuver to null the lateral component of velocity thereby resulting in a spacecraft velocity vector which is directly toward the booster. After removing the lateral velocity difference, the pilot will apply a series of breaking maneuvers with the forward firing thrusters to reduce the closing velocity. The flight crew will measure with onboard instruments the total maneuvering velocity required for the rendezvous procedure. The spacecraft should be back in close proximity of the launch vehicle over the Northeast coast of South America at the beginning of the fifth orbit. After the rendezvous operation is complete, the spacecraft will again separate from the booster - this time using a maneuver which will place the Gemini spacecraft on an orbit with a predicted lifetime of four days. The EVA suit is the new G4C suit which replaces the G3C suit used so successfully by the GT-3 flight crew. The G4C suit has the following new features: a. Helmet - incorporation of triple lens shield (visors) for visual, thermal, impact, and micrometeorite protection. b. Torso - 1. Change to Nomex (HT-1) 11 Linknet11 in restraint layer for increased structure I strength. 2. Incorporation of strain relief zipper in sealing closure. 3. Incorporation of redesigned ventilation inlet and outlet fittings with automatic locking and redundant sealing features. 4. Replace Nomex (HT-1) coverlayer with integrated thermal and mi crometeori ty cover layer. c. Gloves - Incorporate new design with increased mobility, abrasion resistance and thermal protection. d. Bio-connector - Self-alighment, pin protective design. 6/1/65 Page 2
Official release, from the pursue collection. The PDF is mirrored here; the original link is above. 224 pages are in the text index: search them above, or from the library's search.