Space: And Now Apollo

Swaying under a marigold-and-white parachute, and clearly visible on millions of television screens, Gemini 12 splashed into the Sargasso Sea last week, bringing Astronauts James Lovell and Edwin Aldrin safely back from their successful four-day trip in space. The splashdown marked the triumphant end of NASA's remarkably fruitful Gemini program. Since March 1965, the Gemini astronauts have made ten manned flights, rendezvoused ten times with target vehicles, docked nine times, and set a host of other space records. They have also proved that man can fly as safely in spacecraft as in airplanes, and that NASA's complex plans for placing men on the moon are basically sound.

Gemini's finale and Astronaut Aldrin's record-breaking total of 5 hrs. 36 min. of EVA (extra vehicular activity) relieved NASA officials of the nagging fear that they had overestimated man's ability to work in space. During two stand-up photographic sessions through his open hatch and a 129-minute "space walk," Aldrin experienced none of the difficulties encountered during earlier EVAs. He completed his assigned tasks without becoming overheated or exhausted.

Window-Washer Technology. Careful preparation made the difference. Fitted out in a" Gemini pressure suit that made him neutrally buoyant in water and thus simulated weightlessness, Aldrin spent a total of a dozen hours underwater in a research pool in Baltimore (TIME, Sept. 30). Maneuvering around a submerged mock-up of Gemini 12, he rehearsed his assign ments, learning to pace himself properly.

To avoid a major problem of previous space walkers—the exhausting effort required to position and steady themselves in space—NASA scientists provided Aldrin with a number of new body restraints. Borrowing from window-washer technology, they fitted him with two harnesses that could be hooked to rings strategically placed around the spacecraft. In addition, he carried two flatiron-shaped handholds that had their bottoms covered with Velcro, an adhesive-like nylon material. When Aldrin slapped his handholds against patches of Velcro plastered on the skin of both Gemini and Agena, they stuck until he pulled them free, providing additional anchors in space.

With such aids, and by installing an 8-ft. telescoping handrail between Gemini and Agena while the crafts were docked, Aldrin was able to maintain his equilibrium. With frequent two-minute rests, he first moved forward to the Agena and secured its 100-ft. tether to Gemini's docking bar, an assignment that had proved exasperating and difficult for unanchored Gemini 11 Astronaut Richard Gordon.

Aldrin's next assignment took him back to Gemini's adapter section, where NASA scientists had installed a small work panel used by astronauts to practice typical space repair jobs. Aldrin fastened and unfastened fluid connectors, tightened and loosened bolts, disconnected electrical wiring, and tested and discarded patches of Velcro. After moving forward again to work on a similar but smaller panel, he returned to Gemini's cabin, barely winded.