NASA UAP D019 Gemini 5 Technical Debriefing Part1 1965

.. - ,. 19 Y authtrity of E. c 1 1 G hanged by C4?1 •'o <<=­ / GEMINI V TECHNICAL DEBRIEFING (U) Part 1 NOTICE: This document may be exempt from public disclosure under the Freedom of lnfor• mation Act (5 U.S.C. 552). Requests for its re­ lease to persons outside the U.S. Government should be handled under the provisions of NASA Policy Directive 1382.2. THIS MAT E RIAL CONTAINS INF'ORM.ATION AFl"IECTING THE NATIONAL OEFENSE OF THE UN I TEO STATES WITHIN THE MEANING OF' TH£ £8P'IONAGIE LAW 5 ,. TITLE 11. U . S.C, SE CTION 793 ANO 794 . T HE TRANS­ M I SSION OR REVELAT I O N Of' WH IC H IN AN Y MANNER TO AN UNA UTH ORIZED PERSON IS PR OHIB ITE D av L AW. GROUP 4 OOWNCiftAOEO AT ) V EA R I NTFRVALS, OECL ASSI F'IEO AFTER 12 VE ARS t " 6 () t JF18Er4 T I;\b PRELIMINARY GT- 5 FLIGHT CREW DEBRIEFING TRANSCRIPT PART I Prepared By Spacecraft Operations Branch Flight Crew Support Division September 1 , 1965 This material contains informati on affecting the national defense of the United States within the meaning of the Espionage Laws , Ti tle 18. U. By Spacecraft Operations Branch Flight Crew Support Division September 1 , 1965 This material contains informati on affecting the national defense of the United States within the meaning of the Espionage Laws , Ti tle 18. U. S. C. Section 793 and 794, the transmission or revela­ tion of which in any manner to an unauthorized person is prohibited by law. Gr oup 4 : Downgrade at 3 year intervals Declassified after 12 years PREFACE This preliminary transcript was made from voice tape recordings of the GT-5 flight crew debriefing conducted August 30, 1965 thru September 1, 1965 at the Crew Quarters, Cape Kennedy , Florida. Although all the material contained in this transcript has been edited, the urgent need for the preliminary transcript by mission analysis personnel precluded a thorough editorial review prior to its publication. Errors in this transcript will be corrected as soon as possible and an official transcript will be published at a later date . This document contains a transcript of the first part of the debriefing, during which the crew described the mission generally from an operational viewpoint . A preliminary transcript of the re­ mainder of the debriefing will be published by September 3, 1965. It will cover systems operations , operational checks, visual sightings, experiments , pre-mission planning, mission control , and training. a i eJ re­ mainder of the debriefing will be published by September 3, 1965. It will cover systems operations , operational checks, visual sightings, experiments , pre-mission planning, mission control , and training. a i eJ~FIDff:!TIAL 9'0Ni;10ENTll(t ~ TABLE OF CONTENTS Paragraph Page Number 1.0 2. 0 I ' ...... 3.0 COUNTDOWN 1.1 Crew Insertion. . . . . . . . . . 1.2 Communications . . . . . . . . . . 1. 3 Crew Participation and Countdown . 1.4 Comfort . . . . . . . . . . 1.5 Environmental Control System 1.6 Sounds . . 1.7 Vibrations . . . . . . . . . . . 1.8 Visual . . . . . . . . . . . 1. 9 Crew Station Controls and Displays . . . . . POWER.ED FLIGHT 2.1 Lift- Off Cues . 2. 2 Roll Pr ogram 2.3 Pitch Program . 2 . 4 Aerodyna.mci.cs. 2 . 5 Environmental Control System . . 2 . 6 Maximum q . . . . . . . 2 . 7 Windshear . . 2. 8 DCS Update . . . . . 2. 9 Engine 1 Operati on. . 2. 10 POGO. . . . . 2 . 11 Engine 2 Status . 2 . 12 Acceleration g ' s 2 ,13 BEXJO . . . . . . . . 2 . 14 Staging 2 . 15 Engine 2 Ignition 2. 16 . . . . . 2 . 11 Engine 2 Status . 2 . 12 Acceleration g ' s 2 ,13 BEXJO . . . . . . . . 2 . 14 Staging 2 . 15 Engine 2 Ignition 2. 16 RGS Initia t~ . . 2. 17 Fairing Jettison . 2,18 GO/ NO GO . . 2, 19 Systems Sta tus 2 . 20 SECO 2. 21 Steeri11g , . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . INSERTION 3. 1 Post- SEXJO . . . . . . . 3. 2 SEXJO + 20 Seconds . . . Inser tion Activities . . . . 3.3 . . . . . 4 . 0 ORBITAL FLIGHT Wf.lE>ENTl~E ,1 . .1 .1 .1 .2 2 2 3 4 6 7 8 8 9 9 9 9 9 10 . . 12 12 . 12 13 13 ~4 15 20 21 . 21 . 22 . . 23 26 30 38 5 . 0 6 .0 7. 0 RETROFIRE 5. 1 5. 2 5 . 3 5 ,4 5.5 5 . 6 !R- 36 Events . . ~R- 256 Events . ~ - 1 Events . . . . 1R- O Events . . . . Retropack Jettison . Communications . REENTRY 6 . 1 6 . 2 6.3 6 . 4 6.5 6 . 6 6 . 7 6 . 8 6 , 1 Events . . . . 1R- O Events . . . . Retropack Jettison . Communications . REENTRY 6 . 1 6 . 2 6.3 6 . 4 6.5 6 . 6 6 . 7 6 . 8 6 , 9 6 . 10 6 . 11 6 . 12 . . . . . 400 K . . Acceleration profile . Spacecr aft control . 100 000 Feet . . 50 000 Feet . . . . 35 000 checklist items . . Commtmi cati ons . 10 . 6K barostat . . Main chute deployment Single point release . Blood pressure measurements Postmain checklist items . . . . LANDING AND RECOVERY 7. 1 . . Impact. . 7 , 2 Checklists . . 7.3 Communications . Systems Configuration . 7.4 . Spacecraft Status . 7 , 5 7. 6 Post- Landing Activities 7, 7 Comfort . . . . 7. 8 Recovery Force Personnel . Egress . 7 . 9 7 . 10 Survival Gear 7. 11 Crew Pickup . . . . Page Number .168 . 172 . 173 . 174 . 182 . 183 . . 194 . 196 .197 . 197 . 198 . 202 . 202 . 202 . 203 . 204 . . 204 . 205 . .206 . 210 . 211 . 211 . 212 . 213 . 214 . 214 . 214 . 215 . 215 1 1 .0 COUNTDOWN 1.1 Crew Insertion Cooper Conrad The . 204 . 205 . .206 . 210 . 211 . 211 . 212 . 213 . 214 . 214 . 214 . 215 . 215 1 1 .0 COUNTDOWN 1.1 Crew Insertion Cooper Conrad The crew insertion , I thought, went very well . Yes , we had the suiting thing down on my cuffs and everything so that we got right ou t t here and, boy, th& Gunter was ready for us and i n we went . Cooper They were all set . There were no delays and every­ thing went exceedingly well on t he gantry. 1 . 2 Communications Cooper Communications , I thought were good and no probl em at all on communications, and everything went real well. Conrad Cooper Yes , Stoney handled that whole thing real well . All right, volume was still down on the little comm sets in the transfer van there . That ' s Stoney' s little improvement . 1 . 3 Crew Participation in Countdown Cooper Crew participation in the countdown was good . I didn ' t see anything at all wrong. Conrad Yes , we weren ' t rushed . We felt t hat we had enough time to get the switches in the right position and just ever ything went real good. 1.4 Comfort Cooper Comfort was real fine . We went on to two suit fans 2 right away. I thought we felt plenty cool the whole time. Cooper position and just ever ything went real good. 1.4 Comfort Cooper Comfort was real fine . We went on to two suit fans 2 right away. I thought we felt plenty cool the whole time. Cooper ECS was good. Never any problem with it . 1.6 Sounds Cooper Sounds , I thought the only sounds tha·; we had that were abnormal we'd been warned about. When the prevalves opened, they were fairly loud and when the engines gimballed they were quite loud , and both of those we were aware of the fact that they would cause a lot of noise and vibrat:.on. Conrad There is something that really dings t he booster Cooper Conrad too when they start .. . . I don ' t--whet her they drop a platform away. It ' s before they start moving the gant ry. Just before they start lowering that erector. Boy, something really, like it really bangs tha t booster , I thought. I still don't know what it is , but , of course, we ' d been up there with the erector down twice before that so we were sort of e~tting used 1. 7 Vibration to those kind of sounds. Cooper Okay , vibrations we already covered tr.at . Sounds , vibrations. ,. 1.8 Visual Cooper Visual . Nothing.... 3 Conrad Oh , yes , wait a minute, I started getting ibration to those kind of sounds. Cooper Okay , vibrations we already covered tr.at . Sounds , vibrations. ,. 1.8 Visual Cooper Visual . Nothing.... 3 Conrad Oh , yes , wait a minute, I started getting this win­ dow fogging . Cooper Conrad Well, let ' s cover that under the right area . Well, it was actually in the countdown when the erector went down before liftoff . Cooper Well , okay , allright . Conrad I mean we still had it later . Cooper Well, you want to cover that now then in systems . Conrad Well, is that what this means , is visual, or does that just mean something else? FCSD REP Yes, that ' s before liftoff. Powered flight is next . Conrad Yes , well t lri,s-tra-,:5pened 6e:f'1 Cooper / Allright , even before liftoff , hat this really is completely unforgiveable. Each window was filthy. Just fogged completely over, and it was on the inside of the outer pane of glass . It was I within the sealed unit of glass , and it was so foggy when they lowered the erector that it it was frozen over solid, I d neither could Conrad Well, it had fogged over before they lowered the (j()tqflDENTIA[ ,. 4 erector and then the guys heated it w:.th hot air to make frozen over solid, I d neither could Conrad Well, it had fogged over before they lowered the (j()tqflDENTIA[ ,. 4 erector and then the guys heated it w:.th hot air to make it go away and that just made th:.ngs wor se when they lowered the erector . Cooper It didn't make it go away all the way. Conrad Cooper / That I s right it made'"it- ~ actually. L pane and the two outside panes of\\8-~s , I had a my side in my window ~etweer. the inside sma ll bee , and I had a fly, and I had\several flecks of things that I had written u~ before and never got corrected, and they were the whole flight, and I ' m sure they will show up on all the films and everything. Now between the outer sealed panes of glass there were numerous little specks and of stuff and throughout the flight as . .. well , we ' ll cover that later, but that was even 7rore the flight started . The windows were not pla/n a nd were not in good shape to go forthe--f~. 1 . 9 Crew Station Contr ols and Displa_ys Conrad I think the Gemini cockpit is a pretty good cockpit . Cooper I think in general that crew stations eontrols and displays were pretty adequate . Conrad I 've got a couple Contr ols and Displa_ys Conrad I think the Gemini cockpit is a pretty good cockpit . Cooper I think in general that crew stations eontrols and displays were pretty adequate . Conrad I 've got a couple comments on switches and things, but these are . . . . ~FIDENTIAL - 5 FCSD REP Okay , how about the time you spent in there on prelaunch . Do you think that this is about right? Cooper Yes , yes , I think that this is just about right . I think that if you cut it down too much more than that you are going to be ....you could cut it down some more , there's no doubt . .. . Conrad It ' s that cabin purge cycles when you ' re not doing anything really , and that ' s excellent time . Cooper ... that you can cut it down, but that ' s the thing that takes the time for both the ground crews ... and that ' s lost time. I don ' t know . ... Conrad I don ' t think you want to rush the crew and now our count that second day went by the clock, boy. We got in there at the right time . We counted down and lifted off on, and I didn ' t feel that I was rushed , and I didn ' t feel that I sat in there for an excessive amount of time . Cooper No , I didn ' t either. I thought and lifted off on, and I didn ' t feel that I was rushed , and I didn ' t feel that I sat in there for an excessive amount of time . Cooper No , I didn ' t either. I thought that it went just about right , time wise . ,. Conrad Long as there ' s no holds in the count everything' s great . 6 2.1 Lif t Off Cues FtE>ENTI L 2 . 0 POWERED FLIGHT Cooper Okay , lift- off cues , CAP COM . CAP CO~ didn ' t come into the act until later . Stoney counted us down thru ignition and lift-off and then CAP COM picked us up at l ift- off . Motion is an excellent clue . There ' s doubt in your mind when you ljft- off . You know, the second you lift- off that yot .' ve lifted . Vibration was very low. Conrad It had dropped out almost completely a.t lift- off, felt that shaking was very l i ght. Cooper There was very little vibrati on at all . Okay, vibration , very l ow. Noise I thought, was quite low . Conrad I was particularl y aware of the noises of goi ng through the max Q regionar y thing . Oh , t his is lift-off again . I thought the noises were very well at l iftoff . You know the engines were running from the outside before , you know, and man through the max Q regionar y thing . Oh , t his is lift-off again . I thought the noises were very well at l iftoff . You know the engines were running from the outside before , you know, and man they really make a racket , but from where you are it's pretty quite . You know there running. You can here them , there's no doubt about that , but .. . Cooper Okay , on visual I don ' t . . . . We had a very cl ear day . There weren't even any clouds in sight on ~ IDENTI~ C.(&)Hft0ENTI:,\~~ au, !to 7 our sight as we were lifting off, and I couldn't tell any visual cues to lift- off, could you? Conrad You had the feeling that you were moving visually. After you get your ro ll program you see it visually and you can see the pitch program starting visually, but just at first l ift-off you don't really have any visual cues . Cockpit displays are just l ike advertised . The two stage - one lights go out, and . .. just l ike the simulator. 2 . 2 Roll Program Conrad Yes , I watched roll program on the gyro, I was watching for it to come i n on time and in glancing up when the roll program started I was still looking at nothing but blue sky, but I was aware vis watched roll program on the gyro, I was watching for it to come i n on time and in glancing up when the roll program started I was still looking at nothing but blue sky, but I was aware visually as you say that the booster was rolling. Yes , you can have a airplane when you are looking at nothing but blue sky and start a motion and you may not know exactly what the motion is, but you know t hat you are moving. Cooper Now on this cockpit display, something that I got two different answers to from different people on how the gyro and the actual case was going to be set and it suddenly dawned on me that they actually set the gyro so that you are launching down the 90 degrees. You're 8 progressi ng down to 90 degrees line , e. la the simulator, although the booster sets on 85 degrees and when you turn to 72 degrees launch azimuth you are rolling clockwise so far as tr.e crew is concerned . Conrad You roll to zero . Cooper But you are rolling to is real ly to O on the gyro as precessed around so that you are net really setting on the actual launch azimuth, you are actually setting so that when you stai§'e on over i n yaw then pitch over then in your yaw your on the in­ plane so that you are net really setting on the actual launch azimuth, you are actually setting so that when you stai§'e on over i n yaw then pitch over then in your yaw your on the in­ plane line. FCSD REP You ' re coming down the zero line . Y01.:. 1re yawing down the zero l i ne . Cooper That 's right , and I kept getting diffe.rent answers on this and this is in fact the case. Roll program was exactly right on time and ended e>:actly on time. 2 . 3 Pitch Program Cooper Pitch program started exactly on time. 2 . 4 Aerodynamic Cooper Aerodynamic was nothing new or differE:nt about it . It was just standard. We build up to the noises at max Q; the noise built up to gradual level and the vibration and quantity built up to ma>:~ and then dropped off very rapidly J.1'd:i!Jitely thereafter. FlDENTIAL CONFICtleNTIA~ • 9 2. 5 ECS Conrad Right on the button. Cooper ECS was right on the money , no problem at all . Max Q we ' ve already stated . Conr ad The cabin s ealed a little bit high like they said it would . I forget the number. It was about 5.8. About 5.8 or 9 and just gradually dwindled back down . And just after we got in s ealed a little bit high like they said it would . I forget the number. It was about 5.8. About 5.8 or 9 and just gradually dwindled back down . And just after we got in there by the time I looked Cooper Conrad at it again after insertion everything it bled down on our gage to 4.9, our gage read a little low . I think the actual reading , you will pr obably find the cabin actually was 5.1 1 but the whole rest of t he flight the gage never budged off the 4.9. Cooper The gage stayed right there like it was glued . 2 . 7 Wind Shear Cooper The wind shear , we had none and , certainly nothing that we could tell , but as I understand we ' ve been told that for that day anyway we had almost negible wind shear. 2 . 8 DCS Updates Cooper DCS updates were right on time . FCSD REP You had two updates? Conrad 1 plus 45 , 2 plus 25 . 2 , 9 Engine 1 Operat i on Cooper The engine 1 operation couldn ' t have been better, ----~~K)ENTIAL 10 2, 10 POGO .. It was beautiful. Just now in between engine 1 operation and engine 2 here we have t wo items we will insert in here . Cooper One was POGO.. At 10 2, 10 POGO .. It was beautiful. Just now in between engine 1 operation and engine 2 here we have t wo items we will insert in here . Cooper One was POGO.. At 2 mi nutes and 5 seconds we started picking up POGO and I got a fairly gcod amount of POGO on through , stopping just at abcut 5 to 7 seconds before staging. POGO dropped. cl ean out exactly the same time there that we programmed POGO on the early days. Conrad Yes, that one surprised me . We ' d he1:.rd and read tbat both John 8{!.d Gus ' s and Jim and Ed ' s f l i ght that they were hardly even aware of IDGO and boy when it came in on us it was loud anc. clear and , well Gordon , neither one of us could talk hardly; we were really vibrating with it and I was hard pressed to read the displays. By golly , if I had ------- ( to re__:-t ;--e num;-er on _ ad -;-:h - - --:b- _ __ , e a:-i s p ___ .,,. · ~- ~r-ays I- think I woul d have been hard pressed to do it, because we really had it pretty good. Cooper Yes , the rate ... the amplitude of them were such . . . 11 cps frequency and the ampl itude I- think I woul d have been hard pressed to do it, because we really had it pretty good. Cooper Yes , the rate ... the amplitude of them were such . . . 11 cps frequency and the ampl itude of them was such that you were on -- you were on the marginal 11 edge of reading of any large gage and any fine reading that you had to read, you would never be able to read any numbers. It was exactly like the POGO we did all along on the program up at Ames and as the exact amplitude , I don ' t lmow, but i t was , . . . . . I think we don ' t want that ~ POGO. It was no par icu ar y upsetting to me , because I really was fai rly familiar with POGO having been through a ll that POGO program, but this thing kind of t i ckled me that we got it to see that we had still hadn ' t solved it , but I don ' t think . . . its something you don ' t want because if you had ot~er things going wrong during that period of t i me it would make it vecy difficult to say what you had wrong or what Conrad It didn ' t upset me , but it surprised me , you lmow, because I just wasn't expecting POGO. RCSD REP Wbat g- level would you estimate it to be? say what you had wrong or what Conrad It didn ' t upset me , but it surprised me , you lmow, because I just wasn't expecting POGO. RCSD REP Wbat g- level would you estimate it to be? Cooper Well , we were sneaking right up there . FCSD REP I mean the POGO . Cooper Oh, it was right at about 5 g ' s . FCSD REP Well , I mean plus or minus amplitude . ·\ 1 • Cooper Well I , my estimate on it was that it was something -- 12 on the order of maybe three quarters of a g . Well, I don I t !mow whether it was that high c,r not . Conrad I thought it was at least a half , if not better . Apparently it wasn't that high . I ws.s really surprised. Like I say, we were really getting the ramrod out of it. Cooper s beyond what we selected as we th~ht should be the cutoff. It was more tr.an wh~ we l had selected at Ames as being max acc7. in this.I passed up ver b • there one of the first things that happened immediately about the time that we got the pitch program was the IGS Stage 2 fuel needle failed in thE full -max deflection position. And it came back on and was reading after staging briefly and thEn failed again during staging. It was intermittent . got the pitch program was the IGS Stage 2 fuel needle failed in thE full -max deflection position. And it came back on and was reading after staging briefly and thEn failed again during staging. It was intermittent . 2 . 11 Engine 2 Status Cooper Engine 2 status stayed ... was perfect . There was not anything wrong at al l. 2.12 Acceleration G' s Cooper Acceleration g ' s were right on the piofile , were certainly very pleasant. Nothing wrong at all with them. 2 . 13 BECO .. I\ 13 Cooper BECO was right on the money . 2 . 14 Staging Conrad Cooper Boy, that staging was smooth too . They told us that BECO was going to occur early , but it was Conrad We did loft a little bit apparently like they said we woul d because, right a fter staging .... 2. 15 Engine 2 I gnition Conrad Well , Engine 2 ignition, I wasn't even hardly aware of that other than we jus t started to get a little , yc,11 know, we just sort of went off the peg at 6 g's and Gordo said s t aging OK and Engine 2 is good and I wasn ' t even aware that Engine 2 had lit . You can ' t hear it, to speak of, but you can feel the acceleration slowly building up . FCSD REP Did you see 2 is good and I wasn ' t even aware that Engine 2 had lit . You can ' t hear it, to speak of, but you can feel the acceleration slowly building up . FCSD REP Did you see anything visually? Conrad No , I didn't see anything. I heard the other guys talking about s ee the flash at the brig. Never saw a thing and I wasn't aware of any flash out there either . Cooper J didn ' t see anything at all at BEDO. The best clue that I have on my side , is that I see the Fuel and Oxidizer needles start coming down as the engine 14 • starts burning. And then they coming c.own fairly rapidly at first, I mean you get a very definite motion on them right at first there and. they kind of settled out. Engine 2 ignition we've already covered. 2.16 RGS Initiate Cooper RGS initiate right on the money. Conrad I was going to mention that we had l of t ed and that we were expected to pitch down a.nd we did when it picked up RGS. Cooper It smoothed in very smooth, and the fading was just right. Conrad The IGS needle really deflected and I ~as , you know, I don't think it pitched, it didn't peg- out , but it did make a large dip and then when the booster fading was just right. Conrad The IGS needle really deflected and I ~as , you know, I don't think it pitched, it didn't peg- out , but it did make a large dip and then when the booster came down just pitched down very smoottly down to about 75 or 80 degrees, I guess it pitched down almost 10 degrees. FCSD REP What rate did it pitch over? Conrad Very slow, but steady, at just Cooper Conrad It took about 20 seconds I guess to fade it in there . The needle came in and made a big deflection and right after that the booster started pitching and the needle started back and boy the needl e was • CQ~ElDEhJIJA 15 back and thing was right on the money at about 80 degrees. It was a very smooth transition and then do you remember they were telling, us to look for this one cps oscillation? Well, I didn't have rate needl e s like Gordo did, but I wasn't aware of any oscil lations at any time. That booster was in pitch and yaw as far as that went Cooper Those rate needles were like they were glued . There was never through boost or second stage was there ever any rate except that one tiny little rate , one teensy little rate just at when we were in POGO we got one tiny little they were glued . There was never through boost or second stage was there ever any rate except that one tiny little rate , one teensy little rate just at when we were in POGO we got one tiny little longitudinal rate, ' just one tiny little fleck on a rate, and was the only one . Otherwise it was just smooth as silk, the whole time, rate wi se . 2.17 Fairing Jettison Cooper Fairing jettison. We jettisoned fairings at 3:25 and man do they ever go . Conrad I counted Gordo down to them. Okay, yes, that ' s a good point . Cooper Beside the scanner fairing and the nose fairing go and when the nose fairing went it went with all kinds of debris . There were pieces flying all 16 over. Conrad Yes , and I don't think it went right . I don't believe it went right , because the Rand R can was ripped up in the front , and I can show you on my side the nose went like that and there was some tape or fiber glass that goes around t he . . .. It was fiberglass cloth and it was a ll broken loose in jagged flaps sticking up t hat, you lmow, had broken loose from a long in here when i.hat cover went I had decided impression that the cover went off askew, that it didn ' was a ll broken loose in jagged flaps sticking up t hat, you lmow, had broken loose from a long in here when i.hat cover went I had decided impression that the cover went off askew, that it didn 't jettison t he: way i t should have. And this could be a good point of putting it back to a fter insertion. Well, it ' s supposed to go off askew. Yes , well, it just di dn ' t go off clean . That 's why this was ripped up, see . Cooper Conrad Cooper Well , it something somebody might look into , but you don ' t want to recommend that they put back to after insertion , because your taking a weight penalty to carry that all the way up. Conrad Yes, I realize that , but . . . . Cooper It was designed to go off ... . Conrad That was the reason in the first place that th