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

Exploring the Unknown 341
I certainly wouldn’t have put my full strength into it if I knew my life depended on
that attachment. It should be made absolutely foolproof.
McDivitt
Well, that was the point I was trying to make earlier when I said I was pulling as
hard as I could. Then I said that I really wasn’t pulling as hard as I was capable of.
White
You didn’t have confidence in that attachment.
[4-63]
McDivitt
I didn’t really think that I should pull on it any harder,
White
No. I think that should be the third recommendation and it should be corrected.
McDivitt
I think we could spare a couple of extra pounds of weight there, just for the pilots’
peace of mind.
White
That’s right. Take the time it takes to put a new attachment on there. They told us
they didn’t want to do it because they’d have to rerig it. I think they’d better rerig
it and take the time to put a good attachment on there.
4. The final thing really doesn’t fit in with the first three recommendations,
but I would sure like to have the opportunity to use that gun again
with about a 10-times sup ply of oxygen in a great big canister. I think that
maybe this is one of the items we could carry in the back of the adapter.
We could use a small supply to provide the means to go back there to get
a great big canister. Then we’d have a unit that we could actually do some
maneuvering with.
McDivitt
That’s right. I think that, in essence, we proved the use fulness of a self-stabilized
or a man-stabilized maneuvering unit --.
White
Yes.
McDivitt
-- rather than one that is gyro-stabilized with automatic stability features. I think
that although you didn’t burn up a lot of fuel, you certainly proved the feasibility
of this type of maneuvering unit.
White
We had an awfully small amount. We just had the 6 feet/second.