Palladium-Item from Richmond, Indiana • Page 11

The Palladium-Item and Sun-Telegram, Richmond, Friday, July 22, 1969 Astronauts Splash Down Safely; Mission Proves Much Yet To Be Learned In Space 4 4 ill tin i ft I 1. ft It was with admirable accuracy that Young and copilot Collins managed to steer Gemini 10 to a successful linkup with their Agena 10. Later, they used the target satellite's fuel supply for maneuvers that paved the way for Collins' pair of excursions into space a "spacestand" and his later "spacewalk." There Is no question that, if man is to earn his keep in the cosmos, his record must improve considerably. 1 iilgin' 'A SPACE CENTER. Houston (UP!) Gemini 10 doubtless rocs down as America's most successful manned spaceflight of the year 1966 but it left no doubt that, In the cosmos, man has a lot to learn.

By what astronaut Donald K. (Deke) Siayton calls a "highly pessimistic" estimate, Gemini 10 astronauts John W. Young and Michael Collins managed to complete 49.6 per cent of what they started out to do. The point is, many of the objectives of a so-called "secondary" nature. These are what the layman would call "routine" scientific experiments that, depending on whether the major objectives are met, may or may not be achieved.

The "major objectives" on the flight of Gemini 10 were accomplished, and with comparative ease: The rendezvous and docking between the spaceship and a target satellite high above earth. Gemini 10 accomplished this plus a "bonus" rendezvous with a passive Agena 8 satellite with remarkable accuracy. Few would question either the technical achievement of rendezvous and docking, or the two-part "spacestand" and "spacewalk" by copilot Collins. Yet, as it seems to be all too frequently, there were problems. The greatest of these was the discovery, less than seven hours into the flight, that Gemini 10 had used more than 10 times as much fuel as originally planned.

Fuel is to a spaceship what muscle is to a wrestler: without it, you are nowhere and, possibly, you could be killed or, at best, seriously hampered. Landing On Mars By 1985 Predicted By Space Director HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (AP) Mars landing by 1985 is within our grasp," says Dr. Wernher von Braun, director of the Marshall Space Flight Center at Huntsville, Ala. A trip to Mars is the next logical step after the United States lands astronauts on the moon, he told the Alabama Bar Association Thursday.

"With completion of the Gemini 10 16 astronauts have logged almost 1,700 man hours in space and have traveled many times the distance from the earth to the moon," Von Braun said, adding: "I believe that the next long-range national goal in space for the United States should be manned exploration to Mars." 4-4 Surveyor I Takes Last Moon Shot PASADENA, Calif. (AP) -The spectacularly successful U.S. spacecraft Surveyor I has taken its last picture of the moon's surface. "The mission is terminated," Jet Propulsion Laboratory scientists said Thursday after deciding there was little hope the 620-pound craft's ailing battery could survive the minus- mJ mix John W. Young, left, and his co-pilot, Michael Collins, get a wel- John W.

Young, left, and his co-pilot, Michael Collins, get a wel Astronauts Titan II Missile Launched By SAC VANDENBERG AFB, Calif. (UPI) A Titan II intercontinental ballistic missile was successfully launched down the western test range Friday by a Strategic Air Command combat crew. An Air Force spokesman said preliminary reports indicated the missile was on course for a selected target more than 5,000 miles down the range. come from crew of the Carrier Guadalcanal as they stride down the now-tradition al red carpet after they were taken aboard. Parachute of Gemini 10 eases the space craft down into the waters of the western Atlantic at 4:07 p.m.

EST, Thursday, just iy2 miles from the recovery carrier Guadalcanal, after a journey of more than a million miles around the world. Photo was made from recovery helicopter. -ksi -j 1 i if i 7 tj i Happy NASA officials are shown in Mission Control, Manned Spacecraft Center, Houston, after completion of the successful Gemini 10 spaceflight. Left to right are: Glynn S. Lunney, flight director; Chris Kraft, director for Flight Operations; Dr.

George Low, deputy director, MSC, and Dr. Robert R. Gilruth, director, Manned Spacecraft Center. if 260-degree, two-week-long lunar night that began July 13. Surveyor I had televised pictures since its historic soft landing June 1, closeups which proved the lunar surface was safe for Apollo astronauts expected to land there by 1970.

"We will not try to take any more pictures with Surveyor a spokesman said. "Sometime after lunar sunrise the end of this month we will see if its receiver is still operating. If it is, we will take whatever steps are necessary to make sure that Surveyor I does not interfere with the mission of Surveyor 2." Surveyor has no switch to turn off its receiver. If it is still functional, it could receive sig-nnls intended for Surveyor 2, an identical craft scheduled to be launched in September, and start transmitting signals that would garble pictures from Surveyor 2. The spokesman said that if Surveyor I responds to further signals it probably will be directed to turn its antenna away from earth, thus in effect silencing it forever.

Next Gemini Set For Sept. May Go Record High SPACE CENTER, Houston (UPI) America's next manned voyage into space is set for Sept. 7, and the two astronauts aboard may fly to a record altitude into a radiation belt surrounding earth. Veteran astronaut Charles (Pete) Conrad and rookie pilot Richard Gordon will take Gemini 11 into the skies for another three days of chasing other satellites in orbit and walking in space. Glen Lunney, a flight director during the record-breaking flight of Gemini 10 that was completed Thursday, hinted that Conrad and Gordon may fly as high as 750 miles above earth.

Such an altitude is "still under consideration" for the voyage, he said. The huge, striped parachute which eased Gemini 10 down into the western Atlantic after the re-entry of the spacecraft collapses in the water as Gemini 10 floats alongside it, left, iy2 miles from the recovery carrier Guadalcanal. trsfl i 5 Astronaut Michael Collins, in rubber raft, waits for John Young to be helped out of the Gemini 10 after their splashdown in the western Atlantic Thursday afternoon. AP Wirepholoi Beaming with happiness are the wives of the Gemini 10 pilots as they talked with newsmen after the successful splashdown. Mrs.

John W. Young, left, commented: "It's been a great day for the Irish." Mrs. Michael Collins, right, expressed similar elation. Wives Celebrate Splashdown tS Wednesday to leave his capsule for extra vehicular activity (EVA). Mrs.

Ed White and Mrs. Eugene Cernan, whose husbands SEABROOK, Tex. (UPI) -Champagne celebrations Thursday at the homes of both Gemini 10 astronauts marked the safe splashdown watched on color television by their families. Wives of other astronauts joined Pat Collins and Barbara Young at their two homes for the happy occasion. Mrs.

Young exclaimed to newsmen, "It's a great day for the Irish." "I was anxious to hear the old boy's voice," she said of husband John Young. Mrs. Young added that her Collins Didn't Put Heart Into Walk In Space SPACE CENTER, Houston (UPI) Gemini 10 spacewalk-er Michael Collins never really got his heart into his shortened Wednesday walk in space. Ground controllers reported that Collins heart beat rose to 110 as he prepared to leave the spacecraft and hit 130 as he actually moved into space. During the Gemini 9 space-walk last May, astronaut Eugene Cernan's heartbeat hit 180 due to overwork and a fogging problem on his suit visor.

Collins heartbeat stabilized at 110 beats per minute during his spacewalk. Russia Releases 19 Japanese Fishermen TOKYO (AP) The Soviet Union Friday released 19 Japanese fishermen it had charged with violating Soviet territorial waters off Japan's northernmost main island of Hokkaido. A Japanese fishery agency ship received the fishermen off Russian-held Shikotan Island, in the southern Kuriles. 5 -i previously made space walks, were on hand for a toast. In all there were seven astronaut wives at each home.

The families of the astronauts are a close knit group who live in modern residential neighborhoods near the manned spacecraft center. Mrs. Young said she considered this trip into space by her husband better than his first venture in Gemini 3 in the spring of 1965. Mrs. Collins said "The most emotional moment, most joyous moment, is what we've just seen when they stepped out on the Guadalcanal they looked good to me." "If you want to know about any particular moment, I don't think any was more tense than the others," she said.

"For one thing, its always been hard for me to stand and wait. The waiting was much more difficult than anything else." Space Program Gets $5 Billion Via Compromise WASHINGTON (AP)-A compromise $5 billion space agency program was approved Thursday by the House and sent to the Senate by voice vote. The money to finance the 1967 fiscal year program will be provided in a later appropriation measure. The total Is about $11.5 million less than the President requested and includes funds for continued research and development on projects to put space vehicles on the moon, on Mars and on Venus. yf j- most exciting moment of the three-day mission was at liftoff, and that she was "very pleased" the two astronauts completed so many jobs.

Mrs. Collins summed up the mission "marvelous, simply marvelous." At the Collins home champagne also celebrated the space walk of Michael Collins, who became the third American Gemini 10 command pilot John W. Young is pulled toward helicopter from raft beside the Gemini 10 spacecraft after he and space walker Michael Collins splashed down in the western Atlantic. Frogmen remain beside the capsule that has its doors closed as a protective measure..