Floating at the end of a gold “umbilical cord” attached to the Gemini 4 spacecraft, Edward H. White II became the first American to have only his space suit for protection from the space environment. White directed his movements during the historic 20-minute “walk” with a hand-held maneuvering device, while command pilot James A. McDivitt took pictures from within the craft.

Launched June 3, 1965 atop 3 Titan II booster, the Gemini 4 spacecraft made 62 revolutions during the four-day flight. Although Gemini 4 failed to rendezvous with the Titan II’s second stage as planned, because the stage fell away too rapidly to catch, astronauts McDivitt and White did demonstrate that the Spacecraft could be moved in and out of its orbital plane with ease.

The crew also photographed the Earth successfully. The pictures brought back from Gemini 4 enhanced interest in photographic surveys of Earth from space.

Gemini 4 splashed down in the Atlantic at 12:12 P.M. (EST) on June 7, 1965. McDivitt and White were on the deck of recovery carrier U.S.S. Wasp in less than one hour.

The spacecraft frame is titanium and it is covered with steel and beryllium shingles. Displayed here is the basic spacecraft which includes the pressurized cabin vessel, the heat shield at the base, and the cylindrical reentry attitude-control system section on the nose.

The heat shield is a curved section of fiberglass honeycomb filled with a phenolic-epoxy resin. During reentry, the craft’s kinetic energy was converted to heat by friction with the atmosphere. The heat-shield material melted and vaporized and was blown away from the craft, carrying the heat with it. This process is called ablation.

The Gemini was a true spacecraft, capable of maneuvering widely in space, changing its configuration for different phases of the flight, and allowing the two-man crew to work both inside and outside the craft.

Prime contractor for Gemini 4 was the McDonnell Aircraft Company.

Gemini 4 is from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.