Gemini IX G4C Space Suit and Astronaut Maneuvering Unit (AMU)
Kansas Cosmosphere
Gemini IX reached orbit on June 3,1966. On June 5, astronaut Eugene Cerman opened his hatch and stepped outside for the third spacewalk in history. His mission: don a rocket-propelled Astronaut Maneuvering Unit (AMU) backpack stowed at the rear of the spacecraft and maneuver in space. Gemini IX commander Thomas Stafford would, meanwhile, monitor his progress from inside Gemini IX's cockpit.
Displayed here are Cernan's G4C training space suit and the flight-ready backup to the Gemini IX AMU. The 166-pound AMU was unlike any maneuvering device ever flown in space. On Gemini IV, Ed White had used a simple cold gas-powered maneuvering gun. Modern space maneuvering devices also use cold gas for thrust. The AMU, by contrast, had 12 small hot-gas rocket thrusters. Where gas plumes from the AMU's thrusters struck Cernan's legs, the temperature would reach 1300 degrees. Because of this, engineers had to add a heat-resistant stainless steel fabric layer to the legs of Cernan's G4C suit.
Cernan would be linked to Gemini IX by a 125-foot nylon tether in case the AMU failed. If Cernan's test flight was successful, astronaut Edwin Aldrin would fly free- without a tether- during the mission of Gemini XII
Gemini IX G4C Space Suit and Astronaut Maneuvering Unit (AMU)
Kansas Cosmosphere
Gemini IX reached orbit on June 3,1966. On June 5, astronaut Eugene Cerman opened his hatch and stepped outside for the third spacewalk in history. His mission: don a rocket-propelled Astronaut Maneuvering Unit (AMU) backpack stowed at the rear of the spacecraft and maneuver in space. Gemini IX commander Thomas Stafford would, meanwhile, monitor his progress from inside Gemini IX's cockpit.
Displayed here are Cernan's G4C training space suit and the flight-ready backup to the Gemini IX AMU. The 166-pound AMU was unlike any maneuvering device ever flown in space. On Gemini IV, Ed White had used a simple cold gas-powered maneuvering gun. Modern space maneuvering devices also use cold gas for thrust. The AMU, by contrast, had 12 small hot-gas rocket thrusters. Where gas plumes from the AMU's thrusters struck Cernan's legs, the temperature would reach 1300 degrees. Because of this, engineers had to add a heat-resistant stainless steel fabric layer to the legs of Cernan's G4C suit.
Cernan would be linked to Gemini IX by a 125-foot nylon tether in case the AMU failed. If Cernan's test flight was successful, astronaut Edwin Aldrin would fly free- without a tether- during the mission of Gemini XII