Fun in Space

June 4, 1965 - For 20 minutes yesterday afternoon, Maj. Edward White 2d of the Air Force was a human satellite of the Earth as he floated across North America from the Pacific to the Atlantic.

Tethered to the Gemini 4 spacecraft, he chatted good-humoredly and snapped pictures as he darted about in raw space with the aid of a gas-firing jet gun. Asked how he was doing by Maj. James McDivitt of the Air Force, the spaceship commander, White replied to his partner in the capsule:“I’m doing great. This is fun.”When he was told to re-enter the capsule, White laughed said: “I’m not coming in.” But later, after more banter, he followed through on orders to return.

At 3 a.m., the spaceship was in its 11th orbit, and the astronauts reported that they were in “real great shape.” They spent the night taking turns napping and checking radiation levels both in the spacecraft and on its outside surface. The space control center at Houston cut off voice contact with them for more than an hour at a time in order not to disturb them.

If the two-man vehicle flies its 62 scheduled orbits, it should come down about 10 a.m. Monday. 

Unlike the Soviet cosmonaut, Lieut. Col. Aleksei Leonov, who ventured outside his spaceship in March, White apparently suffered no disorientation. During his period in space, he pushed himself to various sides of the Gemini craft with his jet gun. 

The vehicle’s radio circuit was open so that his colleagues on Earth could hear the talk between him and McDivitt.

McDivitt, operating a camera from inside the vehicle, called to his companion outside:“Get out in front where I can see you again!”White explained that he could see the California coast. Then he came close enough to brush the ship commander’s window.

“You smeared up my windshield, you dirty dog!” called McDivitt. His voice traveled by wire to the helmet of his floating companion over the 25-foot tether and also to Earth by radio.

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