Chasing an Angry Alligator

Twice the launch had been scrubbed, once on May 17 when the Agena target failed to orbit, and again earlier in the week when Gemini 9's on-board computer rejected vital data three minutes before liftoff. Now, for the third time, Astronauts Tom Stafford and Eugene Cernan wearily returned to the pad at Cape Kennedy for a mission that had the earmarks of a rueful joke.

On a placard placed over the Gemini hatches by back-up Astronauts Jim Lovell and Ed Aldrin, they read:

We were kidding before, But not any more. Get your--er--selves into space Or we'll take your place. Stafford and Cernan themselves wryly presented the launch crew with a yard-long red and white baton topped by a light bulb. It was a match, they explained, that the crew was to use to achieve a successful "burn."

At first, the humorous approach seemed to work. The giant Titan 2 rocket rose on schedule from the launch pad and placed Gemini 9 in an almost perfect orbit. Then, after only three revolutions around the earth, Stafford and Cernan sighted and successfully rendezvoused with their quarry--the Augmented Target Docking Adapter (ATDA) that had been launched into or bit two days before. But there before their eyes was another disappointment.

As the ATDA's telemetry had suggested earlier, the two halves of the protective plastic shroud designed to shield the satellite's docking collar during its trip through the earth's atmosphere had failed to separate and spring away. Rolling through space, the target presented an astonishing sight. The two shroud "clamshells" were still attached by wires but had swung open at a 30DEG angle like a giant jaw. "We've got a weird-looking machine here," Stafford reported. "It looks like an angry alligator out here rotating around."

Costly Rendezvous. Eager to proceed with the planned docking of Gemini and ATDA, Stafford quickly suggested a solution: to nudge the obstructing shroud out of the way by flying up and hitting it gently with Gemini's docking bar. Safety-conscious controllers in Houston vetoed the scheme, instead electronically commanded ATDA's movable docking collar to extend and contract, in a vain try to shake the shroud loose. Another idea was to allow Astronaut Cernan to pry or cut the shroud loose during his scheduled space walk; this was also rejected for fear that the sharp edges might puncture his space suit. Houston reluctantly called off the docking operation, reshuffled the schedule, and ordered Stafford and Cernan to back off from the ATDA and rendezvous with it twice more--using techniques never before attempted.

For their second rendezvous, the astronauts maneuvered to a point 13 miles below and behind the ATDA, then again effortlessly closed the gap, using only an on-board computer and a handheld sextant. Next, to simulate an emergency rendezvous during the actual Apollo moon flight, they moved Gemini eight miles above and 86 miles ahead of the ATDA, then attempted to close in again with the aid of ground controllers. This time they ran into trouble--losing sight of the ATDA against the confusing background of the earth below, consuming eleven hours and 30 extra pounds of fuel before accomplishing a rendezvous, and exhausting themselves in the process.

At week's end, troubled by the astronauts' fatigue and their depleted fuel supply, Houston controllers postponed Gene Cernan's 21-hour space walk for 24 hours, ordered the crew to get plenty of rest, and wondered what else could go wrong before Gemini 9 returned safely to earth.

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