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7. Two tidbits
Thu Jun 5, 2025, 04:20 AM
Jun 5

1. When cosmonaut Alexei Leonov exited his spacecraft he found that his spacesuit had unexpectedly inflated and he could not get back through the airlock. To solve this, Leonov manually released oxygen from his suit, risking decompression sickness. He managed to shrink the suit enough to squeeze back inside.

2. On the American side, Ed White got to be the first astronaut to leave the safety of the two person Gemini capsule and "fly" freely with the aid of a hand-held maneuvering unit, aka "zip gun." He was having so much fun Mission Control had to tell him repeatedly to get back inside the capsule. After he was seated the astronauts had difficulty closing the hatch, but finally got it done.

There was a contingency plan if White wasn't able to return to the Gemini capsule. He was to be cut loose and his crewmate, James McDivitt, would return solo. Fortunately that wasn't necessary.

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