Exploring the Unknown: Selected Documents in ... - The Black Vault

Exploring the Unknown 311
This is one of the most impressive uses of the gun that I had. I started back out
with that gun, and I decided that I would fire a pretty good burst too. I started
back out with that gun, and I literally flew with the gun right down along the edge
of the spacecraft, right out to the front of the nose, and out past the end of the
nose. I then actually stopped myself with the gun. That was easier than I thought.
I must have been fairly fortunate, because I must have fired it right through my
CG. I stopped out there and, if my memory serves me right, this is where I tried a
couple of yaw man euvers. I tried a couple of yaw and a couple of pitch man euvers,
and then I started firing the gun to come back in. I think this was the time that the
gun ran out. And I was actually able to stop myself with it out there that second
time too. The longest firing time that I put on the gun was the one that I used to
start over the doors up by the adapter section. I started back out then. I probably
fired it for 1 second burst or something like that. I used small burst all the time.
You could put a little burst in and the re sponse was tremendous. You could start
a slow yaw or a slow pitch. It seemed to be a rather efficient way to operate. I
would have liked to have had a 3-foot bottle out there -- the bigger the better. It
was quite easy to control. I feel that with the gun there would be no difficulty in
maneuvering back to the aft end of the spacecraft, and this was exactly what I
did later on. Just on the tether. I got all the way back. So, I ran out of air with the
gun, and I reported this to Jim. I didn’t attempt to take any pictures while I was
actually maneuvering with the gun. The technique that I used with the gun was
the technique that we developed on the air-bearing platform. I kept my left hand
out to the side, and the gun as close to my center of gravity as I could. I think that
the training I had on the air-bearing tables was very representa tive, especially in
yaw and pitch. I felt quite confident with the gun in yaw and pitch, but I felt a little
less con fident in roll. I felt that I would have to use too much of my fuel. I felt
that it would be a little more difficult to control and I didn’t want to use my fuel
to take out my roll combination with the yaw. We divided our plan so that I would
have a part of it on the maneuver and a part of it on the tether. I don’t know how
far along we were when the gun ran out.
McDivitt
Right on schedule when the gun ran out. We planned 4 minutes for the gun
portion of it. We were just about on schedule.
White
I bet we used a little more than 4, because I think we came out earlier than we
thought.
[4-33]
McDivitt
No, I started the event timer to time it.
White
Well, this is where my control difficulty began. As soon as my gun ran out I wasn’t
able to control myself the way I could with the gun. With that gun, I could decide
to go to a part of a spacecraft and very confidently go. I think right now that I
wish that I had given Jim the gun and taken the camera off. Now I was working on
taking some pictures and working on the tether dynamics. I immediately realized