Space gun (maneuvering unit)

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The space gun was a hand-held Manned Maneuvering Unit used by American astronaut Ed White on the first spacewalk in 1965. The device used a pressurized oxygen jet to control and propel the astronaut via conservation of momentum.

The gun was described as easier to use than other methods of maneuvering during space-walking. It provided the impulse to leave the Gemini capsule, and was the easiest way to move in the microgravity environment, but quickly ran out of propellant, forcing White to use a tether to continue maneuvers.

[edit] External Sources

• Gemini 4 Extravehicular Activity summary from NASA
• Biography of Ed White from NASA history archive.

v • d • e Gemini program Main articles Project Gemini Missions Gemini 1 · Gemini 2 · Gemini 3 · Gemini 4 · Gemini 5 · Gemini 7 · Gemini 6A · Gemini 8 · Gemini 9A · Gemini 10 · Gemini 11 · Gemini 12 Components Gemini spacecraft · Orbit attitude and maneuvering system · Titan rocket · Agena target vehicle Launch sites Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Launch Complex 19 · Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Launch Complex 14 Developments Blue Gemini & Manned Orbital Development System  · Manned Orbital Laboratory & Gemini B  · Big Gemini