Dimdima
Online Children's Magazine from India
Dimdima
Online Children's Magazine from India
Gemini-4
Voshkod 2 had problems while returning to Earth. The automatic re-entry system malfunctioned and the crew had to land manually. The spacecraft overshot its designated landing area by several hundred kilometres, and landed in the snow-covered taiga. The space heroes spent the night shivering in the cold, and fending off wolves. The first rescue workers reached them 24 hours later.
Now the U.S. had to reply to the challenge, and it did so on June 3, 1965 when it conducted its own space walks. Astronaut Edward White hauled himself out of the Gemini-4 spacecraft and drifted out into space at the end of a 7.6 metre lifeline that not only tethered him to the spacecraft but also supplied him with oxygen. He carried a propulsion gun that enabled him to control his movements. The propulsion gun fired only air but when he shot the air out under high pressure, he was propelled in the opposite direction, in conformity with Newton’s law that every action has a reaction. White could move in any direction he wanted just by aiming and firing the gun the other way. The astronaut enjoyed himself so much that he lost track of time. Radio listeners all over the world could hear his conversation with his crewmate, McDivitt. They heard him tell McDivitt how beautiful the Earth looked from space, about the pictures he was taking, and how normal he felt, no vertigo or signs of disorientation whatsoever. When McDivitt finally broke off conversation with White to ask ground control if they wanted anything, he got a terse reply: “ Tell him to get back in.”
Edward White, the first American and the second person from Earth to walk in space spent a total of 21 minutes outside Gemini- 4.
EXPLORE MORE...
Get Help or Give Help.
- Do you have a Science Question?
- Post it here and get the answer.
- Some questions posted by others are not yet answered.
- View those questions and answer them.
Dimdima is the Sanskrit word for ‘drumbeat’. In olden days, victory in battle was heralded by the beat of drums or any important news to be conveyed to the people used to be accompanied with drumbeats.
Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan
K. M Munshi Marg,
Chowpatty, Mumbai - 400 007
email : editor@dimdima.com
Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan
505, Sane Guruji Marg,
Tardeo, Mumbai - 400 034
email : promo@dimdima.com
Dimdima.com, the Children's Website of Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan launched in 2000 and came out with a Printed version of Dimdima Magazine in 2004. At present the Printed Version have more than 35,000 subscribers from India and Abroad.