File:Gemini Spacecraft – ‘Gemini IV’ (51102281900).jpg

This is the capsule from the Gemini IV mission, which saw Ed White become the first American to carry out a space-walk. The complete mission lasted four days, from 3rd to 7th June 1965 and orbited the Earth sixty-six times. The Command Pilot was James McDivitt, who later commanded Apollo 9. Sadly, Ed White was one of three Astronauts who died in the Apollo 1 fire on 27th January 1967, along with ‘Gus’ Grissom and Roger Chaffee. The Gemini IV capsule was built by McDonnell and was launched by a Titan II rocket built by Martin. Officially designated the Gemini SC4, the spacecraft was to have been named “American Eagle” by its crew, but the naming of spacecraft was temporarily banned by NASA before the launch so the crew wore ‘Stars and Stripes’ insignia on their spacesuits instead, the first astronauts to do so. This historic capsule is seen on display in the ‘Boeing Milestones of Flight Hall’ (Gallery 100/200). National Air and Space Museum, Washington DC. 11th May 2015 14th March 2018

The following information is from the museum website:-

“On June 3, 1965, a Titan II rocket launched this spacecraft, Gemini IV, carrying astronauts James McDivitt and Edward White into orbit. The flight lasted four days and included a historic space walk by White, the first by an American, early in the mission. Ten weeks earlier, Soviet cosmonaut Alexei Leonov had become the first human to "walk in space." NASA broadcast the audio from White's 22-minute "extra-vehicular activity" (EVA) live; he enormously enjoyed the experience.