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

370
First Steps into Space: Projects Mercury and Gemini
“We of the NASA Manned Spacecraft Center feel the loss of (______)
and/or (______) very personally. The other astronauts, program people, and I
have known and worked with (______) and/or (______) day-in and day-out.
“I have already expressed our feelings to Mrs. (______) and/or Mrs. (___
___) in a phone call that I prayed I would never have to make.”
[12]
Assistant Director for Flight Crew Operations:
“All of us on the astronaut team have lost good friends in wartime or in
flight test work. It’s part of the business, and we know that better than anyone
else. (______) and/or (______) was/were something very special – (an) excellent
pilot(s), (a) tireless worker(s), (a) first-rate engineer(s). He/They was/were (a)
remarkable man/men.”
IN THE EVENT OF SERIOUS PILOT INJURY
All official statements would note the hazardous nature of the work.
NOTE: All NASA officials called upon to make public statements would
assure themselves that their statements reflect the on-going spirit of this nation’s
manned space flight program.
Document I-72
Document Title: Robert C. Seamans, Jr., Deputy Administrator, NASA,
Memorandum for Associate Administrators, Assistant Associate Administrators,
and Field Center Directors, NASA, “Gemini Program; Record of Accomplishments,
Attached,” 17 January 1967, with attached: “Project Gemini Summary.”
Source: NASA Collection, University of Houston, Clear Lake Library, Clear
Lake, Texas.
Document I-73
Document Title: “Gemini Summary Conference,” NASA SP-138, 1–2 February 1967.
Source: NASA Collection, University of Houston, Clear Lake Library, Clear
Lake, Texas.
The lessons learned from the Gemini program proved critical to the long-term success of Apollo
and the larger cause of human spaceflight. The program succeeded in accomplishing what had