Two programs share the spotlight on June 3
2015-05-29
Extravehicular Activity (EVA) and the Mission Control Center (MCC) are not just emboldened to advance human exploration operations and technology development on behalf of Johnson Space Center. On June 3, they’ll be “golden” as the center celebrates 50 years of storied history with both directorates. (See more on June 3 anniversary events at the JSC 2.0 website.)
A mission for the history books
On June 3, 1965, Gemini IV, carrying astronauts Commander James McDivitt and Pilot Ed White, rocketed into space. Shortly after liftoff, the newly minted MCC in Houston took control of the mission at the Manned Spacecraft Center (now JSC). Gemini IV became the first flight controlled from Houston and the longest duration mission to that date. Computers, too, were in the new MCC for the first time.
Up, up and away
On the third revolution of the Gemini spacecraft, White was ready for his EVA—hoses hooked up, umbilical ready, gun in hand and chest pack in place. Nearing Australia, Devitt and White began to depressurize the cabin. After a brief mechanical mishap—the door would not unlatch duet to a spring failing to compress—the door suddenly opened.
White slowly rose through the hatch and installed a camera to record his movements as he “swam” in space, zip gun tethered to his arm and floating freely by his side. White triggered a burst from the gun, rose above the hatch and, without imparting any motion to the capsule, propelled away.
Floating freely, White experimented with the gun, cognizant all the while of the fuel usage associated with controlling his movements. He felt a tendency to pitch, roll and yaw—all at once. As McDivitt steadied the spacecraft, which had the thrusters firing and expelling plumes of flaming gas, White propelled away from the danger—across the top of the spacecraft and beyond its nose. He used the gun for two pitchovers and two body turns, each time stopping easily. Then the compressed oxygen fuel bottle was empty. How he wished it had been bigger!
All the while, the MCC was unaware of how White was doing because of the usual brief loss in communications between Hawaii and Guaymas, Mexico. After the voice circuit was restored, radio listeners paid rapt attention to the American “human satellite” broadcast his views of the spectacle of Earth. When McDivitt had to tell White it was time to come back inside, mission control and the world heard him sigh as White said, “It’s the saddest moment of my life.”
In what must have been a surreal moment, McDivitt heard boots thumping atop the spacecraft. White came back to the hatch as Gemini IV passed over the Atlantic Ocean.
Always in control
From the launch of Gemini IV 50 years ago, through the historic Apollo moon, 135 space shuttle missions last December’s Orion test flight and continuous International Space Station operations, the MCC in Houston has been the nucleus of America’s human spaceflight mission operations.
JSC benefited as management realized that operations would be a critical element in the design of future spacecraft. The centralized location of astronauts, flight operations, engineers and the aerospace companies building hardware morphed Clear Lake, Texas, into “Space City,” USA. And here we are.
The historic MCC that directed the famed Gemini IV mission ended its working life in March 1996 with the launch of STS-76. Coincidentally, that mission saw the first spacewalk of U.S. astronauts outside the Russian Mir space station.
In July 1995, a new wing of the MCC was inaugurated to support and guide U.S. astronauts in space. Fully redesigned with state-of-the-art equipment and technology, the pulse of the MCC still remains the talented teams who filter an overwhelming abundance of information and make critical, life-altering decisions every day. They are the “guardians of human spaceflight”—and it’s a responsibility they take more seriously than anything else.
The MCC now belongs to the 21st century, as it was updated once more in 2011 at the end of the Space Shuttle Program. Gone are the iconic big blue consoles, which made way for “clean” workstations with technological capabilities representative of a new era for space. MCC-21 also offers two visitor control rooms that can be used by NASA’s Commercial Crew Program partners as they fly their designated spacecraft to the orbiting laboratory that is open—24/7—year-round.
The Christopher C. Kraft Jr. Mission Control Center won’t end its operations in low-Earth orbit. Future crewed missions using the budding Orion spacecraft will power through the cosmos to reach destinations beyond what is commonplace now. It’s our ticket to a #JourneyToMars. With EVA and MCC guiding the way through this next chapter, this journey will be the page turner those history books have been waiting for.
Catherine Ragin Williams
NASA Johnson Space Center
A mission for the history books
On June 3, 1965, Gemini IV, carrying astronauts Commander James McDivitt and Pilot Ed White, rocketed into space. Shortly after liftoff, the newly minted MCC in Houston took control of the mission at the Manned Spacecraft Center (now JSC). Gemini IV became the first flight controlled from Houston and the longest duration mission to that date. Computers, too, were in the new MCC for the first time.
Up, up and away
On the third revolution of the Gemini spacecraft, White was ready for his EVA—hoses hooked up, umbilical ready, gun in hand and chest pack in place. Nearing Australia, Devitt and White began to depressurize the cabin. After a brief mechanical mishap—the door would not unlatch duet to a spring failing to compress—the door suddenly opened.
White slowly rose through the hatch and installed a camera to record his movements as he “swam” in space, zip gun tethered to his arm and floating freely by his side. White triggered a burst from the gun, rose above the hatch and, without imparting any motion to the capsule, propelled away.
Floating freely, White experimented with the gun, cognizant all the while of the fuel usage associated with controlling his movements. He felt a tendency to pitch, roll and yaw—all at once. As McDivitt steadied the spacecraft, which had the thrusters firing and expelling plumes of flaming gas, White propelled away from the danger—across the top of the spacecraft and beyond its nose. He used the gun for two pitchovers and two body turns, each time stopping easily. Then the compressed oxygen fuel bottle was empty. How he wished it had been bigger!
All the while, the MCC was unaware of how White was doing because of the usual brief loss in communications between Hawaii and Guaymas, Mexico. After the voice circuit was restored, radio listeners paid rapt attention to the American “human satellite” broadcast his views of the spectacle of Earth. When McDivitt had to tell White it was time to come back inside, mission control and the world heard him sigh as White said, “It’s the saddest moment of my life.”
In what must have been a surreal moment, McDivitt heard boots thumping atop the spacecraft. White came back to the hatch as Gemini IV passed over the Atlantic Ocean.
Always in control
From the launch of Gemini IV 50 years ago, through the historic Apollo moon, 135 space shuttle missions last December’s Orion test flight and continuous International Space Station operations, the MCC in Houston has been the nucleus of America’s human spaceflight mission operations.
JSC benefited as management realized that operations would be a critical element in the design of future spacecraft. The centralized location of astronauts, flight operations, engineers and the aerospace companies building hardware morphed Clear Lake, Texas, into “Space City,” USA. And here we are.
The historic MCC that directed the famed Gemini IV mission ended its working life in March 1996 with the launch of STS-76. Coincidentally, that mission saw the first spacewalk of U.S. astronauts outside the Russian Mir space station.
In July 1995, a new wing of the MCC was inaugurated to support and guide U.S. astronauts in space. Fully redesigned with state-of-the-art equipment and technology, the pulse of the MCC still remains the talented teams who filter an overwhelming abundance of information and make critical, life-altering decisions every day. They are the “guardians of human spaceflight”—and it’s a responsibility they take more seriously than anything else.
The MCC now belongs to the 21st century, as it was updated once more in 2011 at the end of the Space Shuttle Program. Gone are the iconic big blue consoles, which made way for “clean” workstations with technological capabilities representative of a new era for space. MCC-21 also offers two visitor control rooms that can be used by NASA’s Commercial Crew Program partners as they fly their designated spacecraft to the orbiting laboratory that is open—24/7—year-round.
The Christopher C. Kraft Jr. Mission Control Center won’t end its operations in low-Earth orbit. Future crewed missions using the budding Orion spacecraft will power through the cosmos to reach destinations beyond what is commonplace now. It’s our ticket to a #JourneyToMars. With EVA and MCC guiding the way through this next chapter, this journey will be the page turner those history books have been waiting for.
Catherine Ragin Williams
NASA Johnson Space Center
Gemini IV Pilot Ed White participates in the first U.S. spacewalk. White hated that the fun had to be cut short. Image Credit: NASA
MCC-21 will take the helm of missions on our Journey to Mars. Image Credit: NASA/James Blair
Christopher C. Kraft Jr., for whom the MCC was renamed after, "breaks in" the new MCC during Gemini IV. Image Credit: NASA