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50 Years Ago: Skylab 4 Astronauts Return From Record-Breaking Spaceflight


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The longest spaceflight up to that time ended on Feb. 8, 1974, when Skylab 4 astronauts Gerald P. Carr, Edward G. Gibson, and William R. Pogue splashed down in the Pacific Ocean after their 84-day mission aboard Skylab, America’s first space station. During their stay, they carried out a challenging research program, including biomedical investigations on the effects of long-duration space flight on the human body, Earth observations using the Earth Resources Experiment Package, and solar observations with instruments mounted in the Apollo Telescope Mount (ATM). To study newly discovered Comet Kohoutek, scientists added cometary observations to the crew’s already busy schedule, including adding a far ultraviolet camera to Skylab’s instrument suite. The astronauts conducted four spacewalks, a then-record for a single Earth orbital mission.

View from the Skylab 4 Command and Service Module Skylab during the final fly around Distant view of Skylab
Left: View from the Skylab 4 Command and Service Module (CSM) shortly after undocking from Skylab. Middle: Skylab during the final fly around, with the CSM’s shadow visible on the solar array. Right: Distant view of Skylab as the crew departed.

Carr, Gibson, and Pogue spent the first week of February 1974 finishing up their experiments, preparing the station for uncrewed operations, and packing their Command Module (CM) with science samples and other items for return to Earth. On Feb. 8, they closed all the hatches to Skylab and undocked their CM. Carr flew a complete loop around Skylab, the crew inspecting the station, noting the discoloration caused by solar irradiation. The sunshade installed by the Skylab 3 crew appeared to be in good condition. Finally, Carr fired the spacecraft’s thrusters to separate from the station. Three and a half hours after undocking, they received the go for the deorbit burn and fired the Service Module’s (SM) main engine. After 84 days in weightlessness, the burn felt like “a kick in the pants” to the astronauts. They separated the CM from the SM, but when Carr tried to reorient it with its heat shield forward for reentry, nothing happened! Carr switched to a backup system and corrected the problem, caused by an inadvertent flipping of the wrong circuit breakers. Reentry took place without incident, the two drogue parachutes opened at 24,000 feet to slow and stabilize the spacecraft, followed by the three main parachutes at 10,000 feet to slow the descent until splashdown.

Splashdown of Skylab 4 The Skylab 4 Command Module in the apex down or Stable II position
Left: Splashdown of Skylab 4, ending the longest crewed mission to that time. Right: The Skylab 4 Command Module in the apex down or Stable II position.

Splashdown of Skylab 4 took place 176 miles from San Diego and three miles from the prime recovery ship the helicopter carrier U.S.S. New Orleans (LPH-11). The mission of 84 days 1 hour 16 minutes set a human spaceflight duration record for that time. Carr, Gibson, and Pogue had orbited the Earth 1,214 times and traveled 70.5 million miles. The CM first assumed a Stable II or apex down orientation in the water. Balloons at the top of the spacecraft inflated within minutes to right it to the Stable I or apex up position. In Mission Control at NASA’s Johnson Space Center (JSC) in Houston, flight controllers met the splashdown with mixed feelings – elation at the conclusion of the longest and highly successful mission and sadness at the end of the Skylab program with an upcoming prolonged hiatus in human spaceflights until the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project in July 1975. The three major television networks chose not to carry the splashdown live, the first American splashdown not covered live since the capability began with the Gemini VI mission in 1965. The networks deemed the event not newsworthy.

Mission Control at the NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston shortly after the Skylab 4 splashdown
Mission Control at the NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston shortly after the Skylab 4 splashdown.

Recovery helicopter from the U.S.S. New Orleans about to drop swimmers into the water Swimmers attach an inflatable collar around the Skylab 4 Command Module (CM) Sailors lift the CM onto an elevator deck on the New Orleans
Left: Recovery helicopter from the U.S.S. New Orleans about to drop swimmers into the water. Middle: Swimmers attach an inflatable collar around the Skylab 4 Command Module (CM). Right: Sailors lift the CM onto an elevator deck on the New Orleans.

Within 40 minutes of splashdown, recovery teams had placed an inflatable collar around the spacecraft and lifted it aboard the New Orleans. Seven minutes later, they had the hatch open and flight surgeons quickly examined the three astronauts, declaring them to be healthy.

Edward G. Gibson emerges first from the Skylab 4 Command Module (CM) William R. Pogue stands after emerging from the Command Module Skylab 4 crew members Gibson, left, Pogue, and Gerald P. Carr seated on a forklift platform after emerging from the CM and on their way to the medical facility
Left: Aboard the U.S.S. New Orleans, Edward G. Gibson emerges first from the Skylab 4 Command Module (CM). Middle: William R. Pogue stands after emerging from the CM. Right: Skylab 4 crew members Gibson, left, Pogue, and Gerald P. Carr seated on a forklift platform after emerging from the CM and on their way to the medical facility.

Gibson, riding in the spacecraft’s center seat, emerged first, followed by Pogue. Carr exited last, befitting his role as commander. They walked the few steps to a platform where they could sit and wave to the cheering sailors. A forklift picked up the entire platform with the astronauts, and transported them to the Skylab mobile medical facilities aboard the carrier. Extensive medical examinations of the astronauts continued throughout landing day while the carrier sailed toward San Diego.

Skylab 4 Commander Gerald P. Carr enjoys a cup of coffee during medical testing aboard the U.S.S. New Orleans Skylab 4 astronauts mingle with some of the crew aboard the New Orleans
Left: Skylab 4 Commander Gerald P. Carr enjoys a cup of coffee during medical testing aboard the U.S.S. New Orleans. Right: During a break from medial testing, the Skylab 4 astronauts mingle with some of the crew aboard the New Orleans.

Medical exams revealed Carr, Gibson, and Pogue to have withstood the rigors of weightlessness better than the previous two Skylab crews despite having spent more time in space. They attributed this to their increased exercise regimen, including the use of the Thornton treadmill, and better nutrition, an assertion backed up by flight surgeons and scientists. While on board ship, they had limited contact with the staff, all of whom wore protective masks when in close proximity to the crew to maintain the strict postflight medical quarantine.

From aboard the U.S.S. New Orleans, Skylab 4 astronauts Gerald P. Carr, left, Edward G. Gibson, and William R. Pogue wave to the crowd assembled dockside at North Island Naval Air Station (NAS) in San Diego Carr, top, Gibson, and Pogue board a U.S. Air Force transport jet at North Island NAS that flew them to Houston Carr, Gibson, and Pogue aboard the transport jet on their way to Houston
Left: From aboard the U.S.S. New Orleans, Skylab 4 astronauts Gerald P. Carr, left, Edward G. Gibson, and William R. Pogue wave to the crowd assembled dockside at North Island Naval Air Station (NAS) in San Diego. Middle: Carr, top, Gibson, and Pogue board a U.S. Air Force transport jet at North Island NAS that flew them to Houston. Right: Carr, Gibson, and Pogue aboard the transport jet on their way to Houston.

Carr, Gibson, and Pogue remained aboard the New Orleans until completion of the landing plus 2-day medical exams. The ship had arrived at North Island Naval Air Station in San Diego the morning of Feb. 9, and the astronauts participated in a dockside welcoming ceremony while remaining on the carrier. The next day, the trio left the carrier and boarded a U.S. Air Force transport jet that flew them to Ellington Air Force Base in Houston.

Skylab 4 astronauts Gerald P. Carr, bottom, Edward G. Gibson, and William R. Pogue descend the steps from the U.S. Air Force jet that had flown them from San Diego Pogue, left, Gibson, and Carr hug their wives for the first time in more than three months On the podium at Ellington, Carr, left, Gibson, and Pogue address the welcoming crowd
Left: At Ellington Air Force Base in Houston, Skylab 4 astronauts Gerald P. Carr, bottom, Edward G. Gibson, and William R. Pogue descend the steps from the U.S. Air Force jet that had flown them from San Diego. Middle: Pogue, left, Gibson, and Carr hug their wives for the first time in more than three months. Right: On the podium at Ellington, Carr, left, Gibson, and Pogue address the welcoming crowd.

Upon deplaning at Ellington, Carr, Gibson, and Pogue reunited with their wives, JoAnn, Julia, and Helen, respectively, whom they had not seen in three months. Director of JSC Christopher C. Kraft introduced them to the several hundred well-wishers who turned out to welcome the astronauts back to Houston.

Gerald P. Carr, left, Edward G. Gibson, and William R. Pogue address reporters at their postflight press conference on Feb. 22 President Richard M. Nixon speaks to the assembled crowd at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston during the ceremony where he presented the Skylab 4 astronauts In April 1974, the Skylab 4 astronauts address the assembled employees in the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida
Left: Gerald P. Carr, left, Edward G. Gibson, and William R. Pogue address reporters at their postflight press conference on Feb. 22. Middle: President Richard M. Nixon speaks to the assembled crowd at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston during the ceremony where he presented the Skylab 4 astronauts, sitting on the podium with their wives, with the Distinguished Service Medal on March 20, 1974. Right: In April 1974, the Skylab 4 astronauts address the assembled employees in the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

The astronauts soon returned to work at JSC for a series of debriefings about their mission. During a press conference on Feb. 22, they showed a film of their experiences aboard Skylab and answered reporters’ questions. During a visit to Texas, on March 20, President Richard M. Nixon stopped at JSC to award Carr, Gibson, and Pogue the Distinguished Service Medal in a ceremony attended by thousands of employees and visitors.

The Skylab 4 Command Module on display at the Oklahoma History Center in Oklahoma City The Crew-1 astronauts aboard the space station talk with Skylab-4 astronaut Edward G. Gibson
Left: The Skylab 4 Command Module on display at the Oklahoma History Center in Oklahoma City. Image credit: courtesy Oklahoma History Center. Right: The Crew-1 astronauts aboard the space station talk with Skylab-4 astronaut Edward G. Gibson.

Following splashdown, the U.S.S. New Orleans delivered the CM to San Diego, from where workers trucked it to its manufacturer, the Rockwell International facility in Downey, California, for postflight inspection. NASA transferred the Skylab 4 CM to the National Air and Space Museum in 1975, where it went on display the following year when the Smithsonian Institution inaugurated its new building. After more than 40 years (1976 to 2018) on display there, in 2020, the NASM loaned the spacecraft to the Oklahoma History Center in Oklahoma City. The Skylab 4 CM held the record for the longest single flight for an American spacecraft for 47 years until Feb. 7, 2021, when the Crew Dragon Resilience flying the SpaceX Crew-1 mission to the International Space Station broke it. To commemorate the event, the four-person crew of Crew-1 held a video conference with Gibson from the space station.

The Skylab 4 rescue vehicle returns to the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida on Feb. 14, 1974 Workers in the VAB destack the Skylab rescue spacecraft Command and Service Module-119 (CSM-119) from the SA-209 Saturn IB rocket The Skylab 4 CSM-119 rescue spacecraft on display in the KSC Apollo/Saturn V Center
Left: The Skylab 4 rescue vehicle returns to the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida on Feb. 14, 1974. Middle: Workers in the VAB destack the Skylab rescue spacecraft Command and Service Module-119 (CSM-119) from the SA-209 Saturn IB rocket. Right: The Skylab 4 CSM-119 rescue spacecraft on display in the KSC Apollo/Saturn V Center.

The Skylab 4 SA-209 Saturn IB rocket on display at the Visitor Center’s Rocket Garden at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida
The Skylab 4 SA-209 Saturn IB rocket on display at the Visitor Center’s Rocket Garden at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The rocket is topped with the Facility Verification Vehicle Apollo Command and Service Module.

The Skylab Rescue Vehicle’s rocket (SA-209) and spacecraft (CSM-119), on Launch Pad 39B since Dec. 3, 1973, returned to the Vehicle Assembly Building on Feb. 14, 1974. Workers destacked the vehicle, keeping the components in storage at KSC. Managers designated SA-209 and CSM-119 as the backup vehicle for the July 1975 Apollo-Soyuz Test Project. Engineers used the spacecraft to conduct lightning sensitivity testing in KSC’s Manned Spacecraft Operations Building’s high bay in September 1974. Following ASTP, NASA retired both the rocket and spacecraft, eventually putting them on display. Visitors can view the SA-209 Saturn IB in the Rocket Garden of KSC’s Visitor Center and the CSM-119 in the Apollo/Saturn V Center at KSC.

Illustration of a possible Skylab reboost mission by a space shuttle Track of Skylab’s reentry over Australia Managers, flight directors, and astronauts monitor Skylab’s reentry from Mission Control at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston
Left: Illustration of a possible Skylab reboost mission by a space shuttle. Middle: Track of Skylab’s reentry over Australia. Right: Managers, flight directors, and astronauts monitor Skylab’s reentry from Mission Control at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston.

Two days before leaving Skylab, the Skylab 4 crew boosted the station into a higher 269-by-283-mile orbit, assuming it would remain in space until 1983. By then, NASA hoped that space shuttle astronauts could attach a rocket to the station to either boost it to a higher orbit or safely deorbit it over the Pacific Ocean. But delays in the shuttle program and higher than expected solar activity resulting in increased atmospheric drag on the station ultimately thwarted those plans. It became apparent that Skylab would reenter in mid-1979, forcing NASA to devise plans to control its entry point as much as possible by adjusting the station’s attitude to influence atmospheric drag. On July 11, 1979, during its 34,981st orbit around the Earth, engineers in JSC’s Mission Control sent the final command to Skylab to turn off its control moment gyros, sending it into a slow tumble in an effort to ensure that Skylab would not reenter over a populated area. Skylab’s breakup resulted in most of the debris that survived reentry falling into the Indian Ocean, with some pieces falling over sparsely populated areas of southern Western Australia. 

The Skylab postage stamp issued by the U.S. Postal Service Skylab 2 Commander Charles “Pete” Conrad, center, accepts the Collier Trophy from Vice President Gerald R. Ford, right, as Skylab 4 Commander Gerald P. Carr, left, and Skylab 3 Commander Alan L. Bean look on
Left: The Skylab postage stamp issued by the U.S. Postal Service. Image credit: courtesy Smithsonian National Postal Museum. Right: Skylab 2 Commander Charles “Pete” Conrad, center, accepts the Collier Trophy from Vice President Gerald R. Ford, right, as Skylab 4 Commander Gerald P. Carr, left, and Skylab 3 Commander Alan L. Bean look on.

The scientific results returned during the 171 days of human occupancy aboard Skylab remain some of the most significant in the history of spaceflight. The medical studies on the astronauts represent the first comprehensive look at the human body’s response to long-duration spaceflight. The ATM solar telescopes took more than 170,000 images for astronomers, while Earth scientists received 46,000 photographs. The Skylab program received many accolades. The U.S. Postal Service honored it by releasing a stamp in the program’s honor on May 14, 1974, the 1-year anniversary of Skylab’s launch. The National Aviation Association awarded its prestigious Robert J. Collier Trophy to the nine Skylab astronauts and to Skylab Program Director William C. Schneider for “proving beyond question the value of man in future explorations of space and the production of data of benefit to all the people on Earth.” Vice President Gerald R. Ford presented the award on June 4, 1974.

The Skylab backup flight unit on display at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C The Skylab trainer on display at Space Center Houston
Left: The Skylab backup flight unit on display at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C. Image credit: courtesy NASM. Right: The Skylab trainer on display at Space Center Houston.

Possible plans for launching the Skylab backup flight unit never materialized due to budget constraints. That unit is on display at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C. The training units of the various Skylab modules are on display at Space Center Houston, JSC’s official visitors center.

Soviet cosmonauts Georgi M. Grechko, left, and Yuri V. Romanenko during their record-breaking 96-day mission aboard Salyut 6 NASA astronaut Norman E. Thagard during his American record-breaking 115-day flight aboard Mir
Left: Soviet cosmonauts Georgi M. Grechko, left, and Yuri V. Romanenko during their record-breaking 96-day mission aboard Salyut 6. Right: NASA astronaut Norman E. Thagard during his American record-breaking 115-day flight aboard Mir.

As for the record for longest spaceflight, Skylab 4’s 84-day mark held for four years, when Soviet cosmonauts Yuri V. Romanenko and Georgi M. Grechko surpassed it, spending 96 days aboard the Salyut 6 space station from December 1977 to March 1978. As an American record it held up longer, broken by NASA astronaut Norman E. Thagard during his 115-day flight aboard the Russian space station Mir between March and July 1995. Operational lessons learned from Skylab proved invaluable for the Shuttle-Mir and International Space Station programs.

For more insight into the Skylab 4 mission, read Carr’s, Gibson’s, and Pogue’s oral histories with the JSC History Office.

With special thanks to Ed Hengeveld for his expert contributions on Skylab imagery.

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      Workers lower the Apollo command and service modules onto the spacecraft adaptor.NASA Technicians in the assembly building replace the fins on the Saturn IB rocket’s first stage. NASA Workers in the assembly building prepare to lower the spacecraft onto its Saturn IB rocket.NASA Inspections of the Saturn IB rocket’s first stage fins revealed hairline cracks in several hold-down fittings and managers ordered the replacement of all eight fins. While the cracks would not affect the flight of the rocket they bore the weight of the rocket on the mobile launcher. Workers finished the fin replacement on March 16. Engineers in Kennedy’s spacecraft operations building prepared the Apollo spacecraft for its historic space mission. By early March, they had completed checkout and assembly of the spacecraft and transported it to the assembly building on March 17 to mount it atop the Saturn IB’s second stage. Five days later, they topped off the rocket with the launch escape system. 

      The final Saturn IB begins its rollout from the vehicle assembly building. NASA The Saturn IB passes by the Launch Control Center. NASA Apollo astronauts Thomas Stafford, left, Vance Brand, and Donald “Deke” Slayton pose in front of their Saturn IB during the rollout.NASA On March 23, workers edged the mobile transporter carrying the Saturn IB just outside the assembly building’s High Bay 1, where engineers installed an 80-foot tall lightning mast atop the launch tower. The next morning, the stack continued its rollout to Launch Pad 39B with the prime crew of Thomas  Stafford, Vance Brand, and Donald “Deke” Slayton and support crew members Robert Crippen and Richard Truly on hand to observe. About 7,500 people, including guests, dependents of Kennedy employees and NASA Tours patrons, watched as the stack moved slowly out of the assembly building on its five-mile journey to the launch pad.   

      Mission Control in Houston during the joint simulation with Flight Director Donald Puddy in striped shirt and a view of Mission Control in Moscow on the large screen at left. NASA A group of Soviet flight controllers in a support room in Mission Control in Houston during the joint simulation. NASA On March 20, flight controllers and crews began a series of joint simulations for the joint mission scheduled for July 1975. For the six days of simulations, cosmonauts Aleksei Leonov and Valeri Kubasov and astronauts Stafford, Brand, and Slayton participated in the activity in spacecraft simulators in their respective countries, with both control centers in Houston and outside Moscow fully staffed as if for the actual mission. The exercises simulated various phases of the mission, including the respective launches, rendezvous and docking, crew transfers and joint operations, and undocking. 

      Astronauts Thomas Stafford, left, Vance Brand, and Donald “Deke” Slayton in a boilerplate Apollo command module preparing for the water egress training. NASA Stafford, left, Slayton, and Brand in the life raft during water egress training. NASA Astronauts Stafford, Brand and Slayton participated in a water egress training activity on March 8,  completing the exercise in a water tank in Building 260 at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. The astronauts practiced egressing from their spacecraft onto a lift raft and being lifted up with the use of a Billy Pugh rescue net. They practiced wearing their flight coveralls as well as their spacesuits. 

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    • By NASA
      On March 23, 1965, the United States launched the Gemini III spacecraft with astronauts Virgil “Gus” Grissom and John Young aboard, America’s first two-person spaceflight. Grissom earned the honor as the first person to enter space twice and Young as the first member of the second group of astronauts to fly in space. During their three-orbit flight they carried out the first orbital maneuvers of a crewed spacecraft, a critical step toward demonstrating rendezvous and docking. Grissom and Young brought Gemini 3 to a safe splashdown in the Atlantic Ocean. Their ground-breaking mission led the way to nine more successful Gemini missions in less than two years to demonstrate the techniques required for a Moon landing. Gemini 3 marked the last spaceflight controlled from Cape Kennedy, that function shifting permanently to a new facility in Houston. 

      In one of the first uses of the auditorium at the Manned Spacecraft Center, now NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, managers announce the prime and backup Gemini III crews. NASA NASA astronauts Virgil “Gus” Grissom and John Young, the Gemini III prime crew. NASA Grissom, foreground, and Young in their capsule prior to launch.NASA On April 13, 1964, just five days after the uncrewed Gemini I mission, in the newly open auditorium at the Manned Spacecraft Center, now NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, Director Robert Gilruth introduced the Gemini III crew to the press. NASA assigned Mercury 4 veteran Grissom and Group 2 astronaut Young as the prime crew, with Mercury 8 veteran Walter Schirra and Group 2 astronaut Thomas Stafford serving as their backups. The primary goals of Project Gemini included proving the techniques required for the Apollo Program to fulfil President John F. Kennedy’s goal of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to Earth before the end of the 1960s. Demonstrating rendezvous and docking between two spacecraft ranked as a high priority for Project Gemini.  

      Liftoff of Gemini III.NASA The uncrewed Gemini I and II missions validated the spacecraft’s design, reliability, and heat shield, clearing the way to launch Gemini III with a crew. On March 23, 1965, after donning their new Gemini spacesuits, Grissom and Young rode the transfer van to Launch Pad 19 at Cape Kennedy in Florida. They rode the elevator to their Gemini spacecraft atop its Titan II rocket where technicians assisted them in climbing into the capsule. At 9:24 a.m. EST, the Titan’s first stage engines ignited, and Gemini III rose from the launch pad. 

      The Mission Control Center at Cape Kennedy in Florida during Gemini III, controlling a human spaceflight for the final time.NASA The Mission Control Center at the Manned Spacecraft Center, now NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, monitoring the Gemini III mission.NASA Five and a half minutes after launch, the Titan II’s second stage engine cut off and the spacecraft separated to begin its orbital journey. Grissom became the first human to enter space a second time. While engineers monitored the countdown from the Launch Pad 19 blockhouse, once in orbit flight controllers in the Mission Control Center at the Cape took over. Controllers in the new Mission Control Center at the Manned Spacecraft Center, now the Johnson Space Center in Houston, staffed consoles and monitored the mission in a backup capacity. Beginning with Gemini IV, control of all American human spaceflights shifted permanently to the Houston facility. 
      Gemini III entered an orbit of 100 miles by 139 miles above the Earth. Near the end of the first orbit, while passing over Texas, Grissom and Young fired their spacecraft’s thrusters for one minute, 14 seconds. “They appear to be firing good,” said Young, confirming the success of the maneuver. The change in velocity adjusted their orbit to 97 miles by 105 miles. A second burn 45 minutes later altered the orbital inclination by 0.02 degrees. Another task for the crew involved testing new food and packaging developed for Gemini. As an off-the-menu item, Young had stowed a corned beef on rye sandwich in his suit pocket before flight, and both he and Grissom took a bite before stowing it away, concerned about crumbs from the sandwich floating free in the cabin.
      Shortly after splashdown, Gemini III astronaut Virgil “Gus” Grissom exits the spacecraft as crewmate John Young waits in the life raft. NASA Sailors hoist the Gemini III spacecraft aboard the prime recovery ship U.S.S. Intrepid.NASA Young, left, and Grissom stand with their spacecraft aboard Intrepid. NASA Near the end of their third revolution, Grissom and Young prepared for the retrofire burn to bring them out of orbit. They oriented Gemini III with its blunt end facing forward and completed a final orbital maneuver to lower the low point of their orbit to 45 miles, ensuring reentry even if the retrorockets failed to fire. They jettisoned the rearmost adapter section, exposing the retrorockets that fired successfully, bringing the spacecraft out of orbit. They jettisoned the retrograde section, exposing Gemini’s heat shield. Minutes later, they encountered the upper layers of Earth’s atmosphere at 400,000 feet, and he buildup of ionized gases caused a temporary loss of communication between the spacecraft and Mission Control. At 50,000 feet, Grissom deployed the drogue parachute to stabilize and slow the spacecraft, followed by the main parachute at 10,600 feet. Splashdown occurred in the Atlantic Ocean near Grand Turk Island, about 52 miles short of the planned point, after a flight of 4 hours, 52 minutes, 31 seconds. 
      Gemini III astronauts Virgil “Gus” Grissom, left, and John Young upon their return to Cape Kennedy in Florida. NASA Grissom and Young at the postflight press conference. NASA The welcome home ceremony for Grissom and Young at the Manned Spacecraft Center, now NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston.NASA A helicopter recovered Grissom and Young and delivered them to the deck of the U.S.S. Intrepid, arriving there one hour and 12 minutes after splashdown. On board the carrier, the astronauts received a medical checkup and a telephone call from President Lyndon B. Johnson. The ship sailed to pick up the spacecraft and sailors hoisted it aboard less than three hours after landing. The day after splashdown, Grissom and Young flew to Cape Kennedy for debriefings, a continuation of the medical examinations begun on the carrier, and a press conference. Following visits to the White House, New York, and Chicago, the astronauts returned home to Houston on March 31. The next day, Gilruth welcomed them back to the Manned Spacecraft Center, where in front of the main administration building, workers raised an American flag that Grissom and Young had carried on their mission. That flag flew during every subsequent Gemini mission. 

      During the Gemini III welcome home ceremony in front of the main administration building at the Manned Spacecraft Center, now NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, workers raise an American flag that the astronauts had carried on their mission. NASA
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    • By NASA
      NASA astronaut and Pilot for NASA’s SpaceX Crew-10 mission Nichole Ayers is pictured training inside a mockup of a Dragon cockpit at the company’s facilities in Hawthorne, California. Credit: SpaceX Students from Richmond Hill, New York,will have the chance to connect with NASA astronauts Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers as they answer prerecorded science, technology, engineering, and mathematics-related questions from aboard the International Space Station.
      Watch the 20-minute space-to-Earth call at 12 p.m. EDT on Wednesday, March 26, on NASA+ and learn how to watch NASA content on various platforms, including social media.
      The event, open to students and their families, will be hosted by Richmond Hill High School, a New York City public high school in Queens South, District 27. The school’s goal is to inspire their students to pursue STEM careers.
      Media interested in covering the event must contact Lilly Donaldson at Lily@arttechnically.org by 5 p.m., Monday, March 24.
      For more than 24 years, astronauts have continuously lived and worked aboard the space station, testing technologies, performing science, and developing skills needed to explore farther from Earth. Astronauts aboard the orbiting laboratory communicate with NASA’s Mission Control Center in Houston 24 hours a day through SCaN’s (Space Communications and Navigation) Near Space Network.
      Important research and technology investigations taking place aboard the space station benefit people on Earth and lays the groundwork for other agency missions. As part of NASA’s Artemis campaign, the agency will send astronauts to the Moon to prepare for future human exploration of Mars; inspiring Artemis Generation explorers and ensuring the United States continues to lead in space exploration and discovery.
      See videos and lesson plans highlighting space station research at:
      https://www.nasa.gov/stemonstation
      -end-
      Abbey Donaldson
      Headquarters, Washington
      202-358-1600
      Abbey.a.donaldson@nasa.gov
      Sandra Jones
      Johnson Space Center, Houston
      281-483-5111
      sandra.p.jones@nasa.gov
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      Last Updated Mar 21, 2025 LocationNASA Headquarters Related Terms
      Learning Resources In-flight Education Downlinks Outside the Classroom View the full article
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