all-day symposium on the president's life and legacy. authors will also discuss his views on reconstruction and emancipation. it is next saturday, live on c-span3. each week, american history tv's railamerica brings you archival films. 50 years ago, march 16, 1966, gemini 8 blasted off with neil armstrong and david r. scott on board. mission.e sixth man is a 29 minute nasa film, telling the story of a docking in space and a failure that caused the capsule to violently tumble. they were forced to abort the mission and return to earth 10

hours after blast off. >> ignition. liftoff. >> liftoff. .> roger >> feel pressure a little high. >> roger. >> slightly low, no problem. >> roger. >> go for staging. >> stadium. >> roger, staging. >> that is looking a little high. >> roger. >> status check? >> go. >> go. >> guidance? >> standby.

>> go. >> go flight. >> roger. >> roger. >> standby. >> standing by. >> over 300 feet per second. >> 72-95. 24.2 is >> roger, no go. >> you are no go. >> do you have a time? >> flight area charlie at nine plus 20. >> roger. >> we are going for area charlie. nine plus 20. >> roger. >> give me sometimes -- some

times. >> no swells. destroyer is below. -- retro fire. >> roger. fire one. actual geminit an mission, nobody left the ground. they did not abort. we have edited together and isolate a launch with shots of flight control assimilating the launch. the flight was simulated from a room in the mission construed center -- control center, and flights malaysian is done by computers -- flight simulation is done by computers. they will undergo 11 days of simulation flight before march extreme. earlier in the program, they sit down and analyze the flight.

they know it is a three-day mission. the primary purpose includes a aund of you -- a meeting with space vehicle and a spacewalk. the experts will devise problems that could occur, some simple, some quite challenging. feedsee these problems, them into a computer, and see what happens. at any rate, the crew and the controller at the consul are given the problem. both must respond correctly. about 90 problems will be run for the gemini eight mission. twohe schedule, today -- days for the agena vehicle, and simulations. 11 days of problem-solving. most probably, none of them will show up. crew andey should, the

those who support the men, will be ready. several days before gemini viii will leave, the uss boxer comes toward the primary zone where the mission will end. it begins training the complement of officers and men in recovery operations. the boxer now launches helicopters for search and retrieval of astronauts. onboard, the commander of the western atlantic recovery forces, known as the task force. two ships, six helicopters and other aircraft are assigned to the task force. all five manned flights to date have been recovered as planned. , 54 aircraftships and other men will be deployed at different stations around the world for recovery. there are nine other plant -- pl

anned areas. they are in the mid-pacific and the western pacific. in the western pacific, the uss leonard, a destroyer, begins exercises on the retrieval of a model of the spacecraft. the mission will cover three landing areas within zone three. it will be backed up by aircraft from open now and japan. the chief difference between the primary area where the boxer is stationed in another area is the cover handsomeness of coverage. the number of aircraft, ships and recovery specialists at that station. in addition, a special launch abort area covers the land mass and immediate offshore areas. keyboardf an ejected -- abort. extremeuld be more contingencies. the emergency might be such that the spacecraft could not land in

a planned landing area. --a dire emergency, a manned a pilot might have to fire the rocket and come back down. the world is 70% water and 30% land. the odds are strongly weighted towards a water landing. they will have to locate the spacecraft in emergency. any commercial shipping might be called for assistance to pick of astronauts. freighters, tankers, any ship with heavy equipment could take the spacecraft aboard. if the crew comes down overland, they would use the ejection seats, and the land by parachute. astronauts have not only a complete survival kit to sustain them, but they are trained to live off the land, even deserts and jungle. whether it comes down over water or land, the recovery is planned and coordinated by specialists.

they set of requirements for the mission and work closely with the department of defense. the dod commits the necessary ships and aircraft to do the job. the dod manager for the manned spacecraft support directs worldwide recovery forces. he is in contact with two main elements under command, at cape kennedy and in hawaii. the red telephone puts him in direct contact with the highest levels of the department of defense. although this, the red telephone and contingency off of the pacific seems remote on the 16th of march. the crew is entering the spacecraft for what has every sign of being a normal flight. at the same time, on the launch complex, the account is only 25 minutes from liftoff.

the gemini mission is based on a successful orbit of the target vehicle. -- agenag account count has no holds. it ignites. [rockets] atlas has three main issue -- engines, to our booster engines. the booster engines cut off first, two minutes into the flight. the sustainer engine takes over and propels the unit to an altitude of 654,000 feet. two small engines on the atlas continue to adjust it properly in the later phases of launch.

they will cut off after five minutes of liftoff. the propulsion system inserts the target vehicle into orbit. today, the flight plan calls for a circular orbit. something close to that would be acceptable. -- patina of potions some the system can be adjusted for orbit. as the final figures come up, no in-flight burns will be needed. they have hit the circular orbit. this is a good beginning for any flight. the news is given to the crew by the spacecraft communicator. the pilot comes back with, just what the doctor ordered. a flight director calls for the a.m. at 1140 -- 11:40 offshore, the recovery forces are fully deployed and now can only wait, like the rest of us.

valves coming open. >> 20 seconds. , 4, 3,9, 8, 7, 6, 5 2, 1 -- ignition. liftoff. >> roger. [rockets] [indiscernible] >> roger. >> good liftoff. roger program.

>> the liftoff came as the flight director had requested my lip and 40 a.m. and -- 11:40 a.m. and 59 seconds. gemini viii goes into the clouds high above cape kennedy. as the spacecraft comes out of the clouds, a plane fix it up for a close look to see what it is like to fly on top of the booster. >> 50 seconds, looking good. >> after 50 seconds, they release restraints required for seat rejection -- ejection. gemini viii was inserted into an orbit of 86 nautical miles. byy close to the plan values 145 not all miles -- nautical miles.

>> roger, we have ignition. >> roger, staging. [indiscernible] >> copy that. >> the launch site is the first contingency that has passed successfully. he trained team has been released and returned to other duties. with two good orbits, the target vehicle and spacecraft, the gemini had a head start with docking. the maneuvers will be essentially the same as those performed by gemini six. so fast does the face -- space program accelerate, that this was the point in december, but three months later it is much and the rendezvous seems routine. everybody is focused more on docking, everybody except those who fly the mission. then you take things step-by-step. >> this is gemini control,

houston. two minutes ago, neil armstrong called over and he was not able to confirm that radar lock had been established. >> roger. do you have solid radar lock? over. [indiscernible] >> we will give you a current range. >> roger. sounds good. rangeindicate 158 mile and an elevation of 40 degrees. >> after the lock on, the crew will circle lies the orbit. in the meantime, the ground does not sit still waiting for something to happen. recovery forces are constantly shifting in response to the orbit of the spacecraft, changing according to a plan. destroyer inan, a the pacific, takes position for a recovery.

this is a recovery in zone four. zone three will be the planned landing zone for the next three revolutions. for 5, 6 and seven. after that, do my will -- gemini viii will not be over a planned area again into the 10th revolution. occurs in they eight or nine revolution from the spacecraft will land in a contingency area. they will be supported by variable commercial shipping. right now, much of this seems academic. the crew has other business. >> ok, we have a visual on the edging up. -- agena. >> houston, this is gemini viii, we are stationed at about 150 feet. way to go, partner. >> doing good.

sucker.at that >> that is beautiful. >> i see everything. >> that is great. >> man, that is really great. the first thing we really , 650-710. time,ks like at a nominal they will give you the time. now check the status. i bet those lockheed guys are jumping up and down. looking at the left or command pilot window as the withon keeping exercise agena.

gemini viii had no difficulty moving close to the agena. this was at six frames per second. after station keeping for about 35 minutes, strachan begins to move closer -- neil armstrong begins moving closer to agena. they are moving at about 17,000 miles per hour. this is the end of the agena. the command pilot makes an approach by using thrust increases. the maximum velocity difference between the two vehicles at anding will be about 1/4 second. when the command pilot is about two feet from the agena, he will pause until he gets a go. the double check has been completed. >> ok.

we are solid, looking good on the ground. go ahead and the doc. >> we will hold off until he gets it. >> go ahead. >> roger. [indiscernible] >> we are docked. >> that was it. two vehicles. for the first time in space. shortly after docking, the crew is surprised when the spacecraft communicator checks in. loud and i read you clear. i have information for you. >> standby. what kind of information? andf you run into trouble the control system of the agena

command 400end in and take control. copy that? >> we understand. >> it was a routine check. you punch 400 into the computer and this will automatically turn off the control system of the agena. ,f the problem is the agena that will end it. minutes later, gemini viii passes out of communications range. the crew was prepared to begin a series of exercises. -- preparing to begin a series of exercises. wasad left 5 -- three and going to the recovery zone. since we were in the fifth revolution, the retro fire experts were updating their times. these are usually planned for six revolutions ahead and stored in computers. it was about this time that jim

ovell -- for seven hours after liftoff, and excessive roll motion occurred. the crew punched out 400, but the trouble was not the agena. unable to find an immediate answer, neil armstrong undocked. the role continued to build, reaching about one revolution per second. control,g to regain mr. armstrong was forced to fire reentry thrusters and reassert control over the spacecraft. neither crew man experienced loss of orientation. the gemini never approached critical strain. once the reentry thrusters are fired, there is a possibility of fuel leaking. this fuel is essential for reentry. the final action rested squarely

on the shoulders of this man, the director. a decision came quickly. fuel readings were too low. abort. that was the first decision. where do we recover? a stream of facts flow into the consul. --ct position, whether weather, available daylight, and to the whereabouts of the uss mason. a destroyer which had practiced picking up a model of the gemini in the pacific. millions of people suddenly learned it existed. --h gemini's to believe stabilized, there were several advantages to delaying reentry. the officer would have an exact reading on the times and the crew could prefer -- prepare for reentry. an aircraft could be at station for splashdown. this is the way that it would be.

the nasa coordinator leans to the consul, we want to recover in 7-3. the manager putt -- pushes the button and he is in contact with hawaii. hawaii alerts the captain. they head for 7-3 at 30 knots. search aircraft scandal from open now want -- open now want -- japan. as gemini begins its final revolution, whether it is excellent -- weather is excellent in the splashdown area. the crew is busy. the pilot has only time for this brief reflection. i would like to argue about going home, but i do not know how we can. that was all. gemini viii goes past the nearby island. richard fire will be near nigeria -- retro fire will being your nigeria -- will be near

nigeria. they go through the atmosphere. this is the view that they will see for a long time, the family is. -- himalayas. the pacific will look friendly and hospitable. waiting for gemini viii our rescue aircraft, ready to pick up a signal from the spacecraft. japan arefts from added to the team. when gemini viii is only three miles away, they catch sight of it. after that, landing is almost routine and it lands within two miles of the predictive point. -- predicted point. the first swimmer in the water is a veteran and a good man to have on your side. he is followed by two other rescue swimmers. ♪ butt was early afternoon,

at 11:00 at night where the u.s. boxer -- uss boxer was waiting. and theched the area crew and the spacecraft are both in good shape. ♪ scientists2 hours, would pin down the source of trouble, is -- a short circuit in the wiring had caused a thruster to fire. a master switch has now been added to the gemini. switchw can throw the and cut off power to the thrusters in any future flights. once the difficulty was corrected, we could take time to realize that the gemini had brought us closer to lunar exploration, by demonstrating the first successful dock in space.

♪ >> gemini viii also gave many of us are first look at men like the first rescue swimmers. as well as the captain and crew of the mason. men who are there on remote stations, doing their duty and doing it well. it was these men who sided gemini viii and took the crew and spacecraft safely aboard. at that point, we learned that long months of training and simulation between nasa and the department of defense was found. -- sound. is empty but it will fill up again as simulations begin for the next flight. we had achieved our first docking in space, her first -- the first orbital aboard.

gemini viii came through with flying colors. ♪ >> saturday, c-span will be live at ford theater. the's theater along with abraham lincoln institute is hosting an all-day symposium on the life and career of abraham lincoln. authors will also discuss his views on emancipation and reconstruction. that will be next saturday, live on c-span three. >> this weekend on road to the white house rewind, the 1988 presidential campaign. new york republican congressman jack kemp meets with the editorial board of usa today. >> what are you going to do to

win support from the group, the religious right. by president bush is winning converts by talking about his isiefs in god, pat robinson the religious rate -- right. what are you going to do to get that support? >> i have a lot of support. i have tried hard to broaden the base of the party. my campaign is not aimed at the image and call -- evangelical christian, it is aimed at old, young, i do not want a campaign that is narrowly based. of all the campaigns, the one progressive conservative campaign that can reach out to people of all faiths and beliefs and socioeconomic and racial, ethnic differences is my campaign. i will not do anything specifically other than try to bring as many people into my

campaign who share my beliefs in the pearl is a -- pluralism of america. i will not debate by a theology and it will not wear it on my sleeve. >> are you writing them off then? or what? >> i would stand by what i said. >> watch the entire event on sunday, 10:00 a.m. eastern, on road to the white house rewind. american history tv, only on c-span3. >> i think what is so unusual is, if i can be sappy, to be able to have a professional and personal partnership. ours is more than 15 years. >> her temperament and vision in terms of editing is something i spend time on. i have stuck very closely to the

other side of the equation. co sunday night, politi baker, whond peter are married, talk to us about their careers and their move to israel. >> we lived in moscow for the washington post, so we have been overseas together, but we never spent time in israel. we are looking forward to learning a lot. it is going to be a real adventure. this is a part of the world that has so much history. timee have spent a lot of together, but not actually there on the ground. >> i will basically be changing roles, but continuing in a roll expand.elping to we are doing this in the united states and internationally. we are looking at that.

i came to politico to start the magazine about 2.5 years ago. i think this is going to be an exciting new platform to take us into those ambitions. >> sunday night, at 8:00 p.m. >> next, a bipartisan group of former members of congress discuss the history of campaign finance. they talk about court decisions and legislation on who can finance campaigns and how much they can get. and they discuss improving the system. this was hosted by the national archives. you for hosting us in this marvel -- marvelous building. this protects the history of the united states of america.