NEW YORK: NASA is celebrating 50 years of spacewalks with a new documentary, “Suit Up.” The space agency is celebrating the anniversary .
In 1965, Ed White became the first American astronaut to leave the relative safety of his spacecraft. Connected to his capsule by a tether – as well as an umbilical supplying oxygen and electricity – the astronaut spent 20 minutes floating freely in space. He moved around using a “zip gun” that propelled him in any desired direction. White wore just one of two optional over-gloves, designed to keep his hands warm during the EVA.
“I had one thermal glove on the one hand, my left hand. I always wanted my right hand to be free to operate that [zip] gun and the camera,” White said after returning from the mission.
The unused glove floated out of the hatch after White left the spaceship for his historic spacewalk.
“It looked like it was on a definite trajectory going somewhere. I don’t know where it was going. It floated very smartly out of the spacecraft and out into space,” White stated during a technical review.
Gemini 4 was the first American space mission during which astronauts carried out scientific experiments. In addition to the first NASA spacewalk, the crew also tested sextants for possible use aboard a future flight to the moon.
