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Forum:Mercury - Gemini - Apollo
Topic:Off-loading Gemini 8 from USS Mason
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HeadshotVery nice find. As a point of interest, the vessel that picked-up Armstrong, Scott and the Gemini 8 spacecraft was the Gearing class destroyer USS Leonard F. Mason, DD-852. This distinction is necessary as the US Navy had another destroyer named the USS Mason that was active at the same time.
LM-12Thanks for that clarification.

The Mission Report has this additional information:

The Rendezvous and Recovery (R and R) Section was recovered with the drogue and pilot parachutes still attached. The R and R Section appeared to be in good condition.

The onboard films and voice tapes were removed by the flight crew and hand-carried to Cape Kennedy for postflight debriefings.

On March 18, 1966, the flight crew departed the destroyer, U.S.S. Leonard F. Mason, at Naha Port, went by helicopter to Kadena Air Base, and boarded a plane for Cape Kennedy.

The spacecraft was off-loaded at Okinawa and taken by truck to Naha Air Facility where deactivation procedures were begun.

HeadshotIt would be cool to see if footage of the Leonard F. Mason's attempts to dock at the pier exist. The account in "Schirra's Space" is abbreviated as the vessel actually made three docking attempts and was, embarrassingly, blown away from the pier twice by strong wind gusts. This is what caused the consternation of the admiral standing nearest to Wally Schirra.

In fairness to the ship's skipper, the Leonard F. Mason was riding high in the water from using so much fuel to make its speed runs both to effect rescue of Gemini 8 and then to port. The skipper did not want to waste time taking on ballast, as time was of the essence.

Fra MauroAny idea what happened to the rendezvous and recovery section?
oly
quote:
Originally posted by Headshot:
The account in "Schirra's Space" is abbreviated as the vessel actually made three docking attempts
Schirra talks about this in his Oral History Project interview:
So we're standing there and all of a sudden cars start driving up with three stars, four stars; generals, admirals; we have a platoon of generals and admirals. A big band starts coming in, and they're all lining up with their tubas and all that brass stuff and all the whole thing. And I think, "My God! this is going to be a big event." It got bigger and bigger. So I'm retreating away from this whole group, farther and farther. "John, you've got to get them off that boat and get them out of here in a hurry!" We had a helicopter standing by. This destroyer comes in, having picked up Neil and Dave and their Gemini spacecraft. It was so light in the water, because he was racing back to Buckner Bay, Okinawa, that as he came into the dock he blew it and went right on by.

The band's "oom pah pah, oom pah pah," and the platoon of admirals and generals is saluting like mad. Straight on by! You can see him up on the bridge, "All ahead boiler! Astern! Astern!" [laughs] Starts hitting the power. Backs up. Roars back by the band "oom pah pah, oom pah pah, oom pah pah," right on by the dock again. Makes a third pass. This one, an admiral says, "If he doesn't get a line on it this time, I'll sink the son of a bitch!" [laughs] That was the recovery of Gemini VIII.

LM-12Here is a LIFE magazine photo of the USS Leonard F. Mason arriving in Okinawa with the Gemini 8 spacecraft and crew onboard.

I also found these Heritage Auction recovery photos of Armstrong and Scott, which I have never seen before.

Headshot
quote:
Originally posted by Fra Mauro:
Any idea what happened to the rendezvous and recovery section?
About five years ago I searched the online National Air and Space Museum inventory list and did not find it. I never was able to determine its whereabouts.
Kevmac...maybe it's in some sailor's garage??
thisismillsOnly thing I'd found in the past was that the drogue parachute made its way to the Smithsonian, not sure about the rest of it.
LM-12The Mission Report includes these events and ground elapsed times:
  • 7:43 GET ... USS Leonard Mason ordered to proceed at best speed to 7-3 aiming point.
  • 10:04 GET ... Spacecraft retrofire.
  • 10:25 GET ... Naha Rescue 1 was on station at the aiming point.
  • 10:41 GET ... Naha Rescue 1 reported spacecraft landing and floatation attitude normal.
  • 10:54 GET ... Pararescueman deployed to spacecraft.
  • 13:24 GET ... USS Mason reported visual contact with spacecraft.
  • 13:47 GET ... Flight crew boarded USS Mason (fig 6.3-6).
  • 13:56 GET ... Spacecraft secured onboard USS Mason.
  • 31:29 GET ... USS Mason arrived at Okinawa to offload spacecraft and flight crew.
Pages 6-45 and 6-46 in the "6.3 Recovery Operations" section of the Mission Report are missing. "fig 6.3-6" must be on one of those pages.
olyThis article has some interesting related colour images.
Lasv3The hoisting picture does not belong to the GT-8 flight, but very nice photos.
LM-12On page 6-48, there is a photo of the R and R Section. The photo number shown is NASA-S-66-3498 April 19. The NASA caption might have more information.

In one of the Heritage photos, the parachute is seen right next to the ship. Was the parachute recovered?

HeadshotI am wondering if, when Gemini 8 was returned to McDonnell for the post-flight inspection, the R & R section was also included, since it was originally part of the spacecraft. I believe that Gemini 8 was subjected to a more thorough teardown than other Geminis, because of the thruster malfunction. If the R & R section was shipped to McDonnell, who knows where it may have ended up?

The thought of it sitting in some sailor's garage appeals to my sense of whimsy though.

I read (somewhere) that the main parachute was recovered by the pararescue diver team, but was lost before it could be hauled aboard the USS Leonard F. Mason. However my memory is fuzzy on details.

As an aside, I believe that it was Neil Armstrong who invited the members of the pararescue diver team to the launch of Apollo 11.

LM-12I don't see the R and R Section on the flatbed truck.
quote:
Originally posted by Headshot:
I am wondering if, when Gemini 8 was returned to McDonnell for the post-flight inspection, the R & R section was also included, since it was originally part of the spacecraft.
Yes it was. From page 12-35:
The Rendezvous and Recovery (R and R) Section was returned with the spacecraft to the contractor's facility, and the drogue and pilot parachutes were returned to Cape Kennedy for damage charting.
dtempleAny chance the Gemini 8 Rendezvous and Recover section is attached to Gemini 5 on display at Space Center Houston? Off hand, I cannot think of another Gemini spacecraft I have seen that had the R&R section attached. I presume the one on Gemini 5 is its R&R section, otherwise it would not be displayed that way.
LM-12It doesn't sound like the R and R section on Gemini 5 was recovered. From the Gemini 5 Mission Report:
Recovery forces in the landing area reported no visual sighting of the main parachute nor the rendezvous and recovery (R and R) section.

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