Ed White becomes the first American to walk in space. White and James McDivitt, the crew of Gemini 4 (Photo : NASA)
NASA has just released a 32 minute-long documentary commemorating 50 years of spacewalks, but with a special focus on the United States' contribution.
Cosmonaut Alexey Leonov of the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics or USSR became the first human to walk in space when he took a 12 minute spacewalk (otherwise known as an Extra Vehicular Activity or EVA) on March 18, 1965.
The NASA documentary, "Suit Up", shows spacewalkers share their personal stories and thoughts about their EVAs. It is narrated by the American actor and fan of space exploration, Jon Cryer.
It can be viewed on YouTube here.
Since Leonov's EVA, however, the U.S. has had more people walk in space than any other country. This trend began on June 3, 1965 when astronaut Edward "Ed" White II became the first American to walk in space. White, whose spacewalk lasted 20 minutes, conducted the second EVA in history.
White and fellow astronaut James McDivitt were the two-man crew of Gemini 4, the second manned space flight in NASA's Project Gemini. McDivitt and White orbited the Earth 66 times in four days.
Highlight of the Gemini 4 mission was White's spacewalk. Gemini 4 also included the first attempt to make a space rendezvous. McDivitt tried to maneuver the capsule close to the Titan II upper stage but this was unsuccessful. Gemini 4 was the first American flight to perform many scientific experiments in space.
In all, Gemini 4 traveled a total distance of 2.59 million kilometers around the Earth.
White was tethered to Gemini 4 when he floated out of the hatch and into space. He also used a Hand-Held Maneuvering Unit that shot out pressurized oxygen to provide thrust for controlling his spacewalk. McDivitt took photographs while White was on his spacewalk.
White so thoroughly enjoyed the space walk that he had to be goaded to return to Gemini 4.
"It's the saddest moment of my life", said White about ending his historic spacewalk.
White was killed on January 27, 1967 when a fire engulfed Apollo 1. Also killed in the fire were fellow astronauts Virgil "Gus" Grissom and Roger Chaffee. They were the first Americans to die in the Space Race.
