Space Junk Featured in the Past Gemini V After a failed launch attempt on August 19th 1965 due to weather conditions and problems with loading cryogenic fuel for the fuel cell, the Gemini V finally launched on August 21, 1965; 8:59:59.518am EST. Sure, they can tell the time to a thousanth of a second, but can they get this bucket to fly? C. Gordon Cooper - Commander and Charles Conrad, Jr - Pilot launched for an 8 day mission of 120 orbits to evaluate the rendezvous Guidance and Navigation system with REP (radar evaluation pod), demonstrate the 8-day capability of the spacecraft and crew and evaluate effects on weightlessness for an 8-day flight. They also intended to demonstrate controlled reentry guidance, evaluate fuel cells and demonstrate all phases of the guidance and control system operation needed for rendezvous. Finally, they were to evaluate the capability of both crewmen to maneuver spacecraft to rendezvous, checkout the rendezvous radar and execute 17 experiments. During the mission, problems developed with the fuel cell that precluded rendezvous with the REP. The primary rendezvous system with REP objective was not achieved. The REP rendezvous was not even attempted due to a decision to power down the fuel cells before something really bad happened. The secondary objective to demonstrate controlled reentry guidance didn't happen either because incorrect navigation coordinates were transmitted to the spacecraft computer from the ground. This caused an 106 mile overshoot of the landing zone. On August 29, the spacecraft's landing was at 29deg44min North and 69deg 45min West - a miss distance of over 100 miles. Navy divers from the backup recovery ship USS DuPont had to recover the crew.       Vostok 6 The courageous young Russian Valentina Tereshkova was selected as the first woman to be sent to space and launched on June 16th 1963 aboard the simple and clunky Vostok 6 at the age of 26. Although she says she had no problem with 0 G she did throw up on the third day due to the lousy cosmo-food provided by the soviet space program. Apparently the capsule interior was badly designed. Valuable medical experiments were installed out of her reach while she was strapped in so these could not be done. There were also reports of possible onboard communications equipment failure because she failed to reply in many communications sessions. However, it is postulated that she may have simply not wanted to answer the calls or she may have been asleep. She also reported some kind of explosion when she tried to use manual orientation controls. Upon reentry, 2 days and 22 hours after her liftoff, she had to endure large amounts of smoke and heat inside the capsule while the outside burned from the friction with the atmosphere. At a altitude of 4 km, she ejected from the capsule and was struck in the face by a small piece of falling metal during her parachute descent. This, as it turns out, was her own fault for opening the visor on her helmet and looking upwards. Tereshkova later received the Order of Lenin and Hero of the Soviet Union awards for her historic flight. She is retired and still lives today in Moscow. [ Back to Current Space Junk ]