Talk:Gemini 8/Archive 1

Archive 1

More Soviet statistics?

While we're on the subject, does the 22 total manned space flights also include Soviets, or just U.S.? JustinTime55 (talk) 21:44, 26 February 2010 (UTC)

Inappropriate style

I removed the crappily-written description of the docking, spin emergency and landing under Objectives, since they don't really belong there and are redundant to the much better writing in Flight. I assume that's what got us the style tag; can we remove it now? If not, would whoever added the tag please identify where else the style is bad? Thanks. JustinTime55 (talk) 21:55, 26 February 2010 (UTC)

Armstrong was NOT the first civillian in space

As they say in court, "You opened up this can of worms, counsellor." Since the intro takes pains to include Soviets as well as Americans, it is inaccurate. Armstrong was the first U.S. civillian, but the first woman, Valentina Tershkova, was a textile worker and amateur parachutist, not Soviet military. JustinTime55 (talk) 20:42, 26 February 2010 (UTC)

You're right about that, certainly. Personally I think it is a bit misleading to label Armstrong as a civilian at all. While it was technically true, for the average person, who likely knows nothing of Armstrong's military service, it is probable that this little tidbit of information will do more to confuse than enlighten.--172.190.126.165 (talk) 22:49, 30 October 2011 (UTC)

Actually, it's not just trivia, and was highlighted in the press at the time. All astronauts in the first group, and the majority of those in the corps during the Gemini / Apollo days, were still in the military while in the astronaut corps. It made a difference to the widows of those killed in the line of astronaut duty (esp. Grissom, White, and Chaffee), who were dependent on the military pensions (NASA offered no death benefit at the time.) JustinTime55 (talk) 16:16, 1 November 2011 (UTC)

Error while editing sentence?

The article mentions "(...) and used the Re-entry Control System reaction control system (RCS)", does RCS refer to Re-entry Control System or Reaction Control System? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 66.158.151.216 (talk) 00:52, 29 August 2012 (UTC)

RCS on Gemini meant Reentry Control System. Both the primary Orbit Attitude and Maneuvering System and the RCS were reaction control systems, which is a generic term meaning it uses thrusters. (Although on the later Apollo (spacecraft) they used Reaction Control System as the specific name.) JustinTime55 (talk) 20:58, 2 May 2013 (UTC)

RCS ?

If there is any possibility of confusion concerning an initialism or an acronym, then the term MUST be spelled out (in any cases). Therefore, Reentry Control System is was in this case, and Reaction Control System for some other spacecraft, including the Space Shuttle. The reader is not a mind reader, so it is no use to hee-haw around.
Also, in American English and in technical English, "reentry" is spelled without a hyphen. The Geminis were American spacecraft, so American English is the form to use. 98.67.173.186 (talk) 21:27, 30 April 2014 (UTC)

The Crew

The phrase, as used in the article, "the crew were" is incorrect because "crew" is a singular noun, and its plural is "crews". You MUST correct this either to "the crew was" or "the crewmen were". That awful phrases "the crew were" and "the crew are" are BRITISH English, and they have no place in an article about an American spacecraft. By the way, "crew" is a collective noun, and all collective nouns are singular - despite the arguments of some British and Irish writers. NASA is an American organization, and not a British one, or one from any other foreign country. Use American English.
Note: NASA is, Gemini is, the United States is, the U.S. Air Force is, the U.S. Navy is, the Apollo Program is, the crew is, the team is, and the staff is, and so forth.98.67.173.186 (talk) 21:39, 30 April 2014 (UTC)

Flight plan

Could we get some details of the flight plan? What were the planned duration, number of orbits, details of the planned EVA, duration of docking, maneuvers during docking, scientific experiments, etc.? I guess it should go under the heading of Objectives, if not in a separate "Flight plan" section. Thank you.CountMacula (talk) 07:46, 27 February 2015 (UTC)