Gemini X View From Orbit

9 responses to “Gemini X View From Orbit”

1. 

   jurvetson

   Mar 17, 2012 at 10:02 pm

   a nice addition to the John Young Gemini collection

   

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2. 

   Mentifex

   Mar 17, 2012 at 10:08 pm

   What land mass is shown there? Terra incognita?

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3. 

   solerena

   Mar 17, 2012 at 10:26 pm

   Wow!

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4. 

   Astrocatou

   Mar 17, 2012 at 11:55 pm

   Presumably its due to whatever gear they were using at the time.
   But I have always found the Gemini photography was particularly brilliant….

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5. 

   rocketmavericks

   Mar 18, 2012 at 1:03 am

   [http://www.flickr.com/photos/jurvetson/] – The mission profile was an orbit sustained at about 100 miles with an inclination of 28 degrees and represents the maximum sub-ornital altitude we hope to reach next winter, or about 400,000 feet. Nice to know what it will look like. Strikingly similar to images from recent 100K flights.

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6. 

   scleroplex

   Mar 18, 2012 at 2:32 am

   very special 🙂

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7. 

   Spaceaholic.com

   Mar 18, 2012 at 4:54 am

   [http://www.flickr.com/photos/rocketmavericks] Only initially – the orbit was almost immediately (after insertion and docking with Agena), boosted to 156 x 162 nm followed by a second maneuver to the final 412 x 158 nm orbit. EVA (during which the above image was shot) occurred after orbit height adjustment.

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8. 

   jurvetson

   Mar 18, 2012 at 3:42 pm

   [http://www.flickr.com/photos/daveh56] – So did Collins.

   I went back to his autobiography Carrying the Fire to digitize some of Michael Collins’ words describing his emergence from the capsule and the image above, captured on film:

   “My first impression is a feeling of awe at the wide visual field, a sense of release after the narrow restrictions of the tiny Gemini window. My God, the stars are everywhere. The stars are bright and they are steady.

   This is the best view of the universe that a human has ever had. We are gliding across the world in total silence, with absolute smoothness; a motion of stately grace which makes me feel God-like as I stand erect in my sideways chariot, cruising the night sky.” (p.221)

   “The view is absolutely breathtaking! I will try to explain it. First some arithmetic. At two hundred miles above a sphere whose radius is four thousand, we are just skimming along one twentieth of a radius above the surface. The atmosphere itself is ridiculously thin, thinner than the rind on an orange, and we are just barely above it.

   Our much higher orbital velocity is balanced out by our higher altitude, so the angular changes (the most important visual cues of speed) are still within the realm of the commonplace. Although the sky is absolute, unrelieved black instead of blue, the colors below look about the same as they would from an airplane.

   Then what is so impressive, what makes it different? Supertourist is up, and what a feeling of power! Those aren’t counties going by, those are continents; not lakes but oceans!

   Another difference is that we are above it, and it is uniformly bright. No misty days, no towering thunderheads; all that is below, and superbright in the unfiltered sunlight which spreads a cheeriness over the whole scene below. No doom, no gloom, only optimism. This is a better world than the one down there. Fantastic!” (p.241)

   And he cherished the photography:

   “an event must be seen to be believed, and a description of a trip without pictures seemed anachronistic at best.” (p.253.)

   “I think nirvana must be at an altitude of 250 miles… I am in the cosmic arena, the place to gain a celestial perspective; it remains only to slow down long enough to capture it, even a teacup will do, will last a lifetime below.” (p.243)

   Perhaps this contemplation calmed his mind during the turbulent spin of reentry where Collins had the lowest peak heart rate (90 beats/minute) of any of the Gemini astronauts.

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9. 

   Astrocatou

   Mar 18, 2012 at 4:32 pm

   Good quotes…..well added.

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