that are appropriate to the rules of the internet and not just to telephones. >> each week, american history america" help tell the story of american history. gemini eight lasted off with asterisk neil armstrong and david scott on board. it was the sixth command mission of the gemini program and one of its objectives was to rendezvous and dock with the regina spacecraft. this is a 25 minute nasa film telling the story of the docking with another craft in space and equipment failures that caused the gemini capsule to violently tumble in space. the astronauts were a force -- were forced to return to earth 10 hours after blastoff.

ignition, lift off. lift off. fuel pressure little high. >> how is it looking question mark >> it is looking good. low, no problem. staging. how does that thrust look? >> that thrust is looking a little high. >> status check, booster. >> go, guidance. go. >> how do you stand, guidance? >> capcom, we are go.

shutdown. >> roger. >> standing by. >> over 300 feet or second. >> 72 95. >> we are a no go. capcom, we are a no go. no go. retro, you have a time here? plus 20. >> we will be retro firing in nine plus 20. >> retro flight. >> give me some access times in that area. >> no swells and your call sign

rescue one, the destroyer. >> 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, retro fire. to.ocket this was not an actual gemini mission. nobody left the ground and gemini did not abort the stuff we edited together an isolated lunch with shots of the flight controllers simulating that launch. the point was simulated from an adjacent room in control center houston unlike many other things, flight simulation is done by computers. willrimary and backup crew undergo 11 days of such simulated flights before launch day, march 16. experts sit down and analyze the flight. they know it is a three-day mission. theprimary purposes include

first docking in space and a two hour spacewalk by pilot ava scott. the experts then devise problems that could occur. some simple, some quite challenging. they feed these problems into a computer and see what happens. and the simulator and controller at the console are given the problem. both must respond correctly. about 90 problems will be run for the mission. on the schedule are two days devoted to the target vehicle. to networkevoted simulations and two days scheduled for running reentry simulations. , mosts of problem solving probably none of them would turn up during the flight. but if one should, the crew and a 5000 people on the ground network would be ready.

eightl days before gemini will leave the ground, the uss ox or steams toward the ground where the mission would normally end. it begins training its complement of officers and men in recovery operations. instead of launching strike missions, they launched helicopters for search and retrieval of astronauts. on board is the commander known as task force 143. two ships, six helicopters and six aircraft are assigned to this task force. all five manned flights today have been recovered as planned in the primary zone. still, 10 more ships, 50 more aircraft and 5000 additional men will be deployed it to friend stations around the world for recovery. plannede nine other areas in the three major zones of the eastern atlantic stop --

eastern pacific. uss leonard f mason begins exercises on the retrieval of a model of the gemini spacecraft. the mason will cover three landing areas in zone three. it will be back by aircraft between okinawa and japan. the number of aircraft, ships, and recovery specialists on station. in addition, a special launch abort area covers the landmass and off shore areas. before theams go out spacecraft is launched in case of an abort. there could be more extreme contingencies. the emergency might be such that the spacecraft could not land in the planned area. emergency, the

commander might have to fire retro rockets and come right down. the world is 70% water and 30% land. the odds are weighted toward a water landing. aircraft are stationed at 12 points to locate the spacecraft. commercial craft might be called for assistance to pick up the astronauts. any ship with heavy waste a crib and -- heavy waste equipment could take the spacecraft aboard. if the crew comes down over land, they would use the ejection seats and land by parachute. astronauts have not only a complete survival kit to sustain them but they are trained to live off the land, even desert and jungle. down overmini comes water or land, it is planned by a nasa team of specialists. they have setup requirements for the mission and work closely

with the department of defense. the dod commits the necessary ships and aircraft to do the job. directsmanager worldwide recovery forces and is in contact with two main elements under his command. recovery control center and pacific recovery control center in hawaii. the red telephone puts him in direct contact with the highest levels of department of defense for further assistance. this, it seems remote on the 16th of march. the crew is entering the spacecraft with what is every sign of being a normal flight. time, the atlas a gina count is only 20 minutes from liftoff. the mission is largely based on a successful or get -- orbit of

target vehicles. right on the nose at 10:00, the atlas launch vehicle ignites. atlas has three main propulsion engines. to our booster engines and one is a sustainer engine. sustainer engine takes over and propels it to an altitude of 654,000 194 feet stop to small engines continue to position it properly in the later phases of launch and cut off at five minutes, six seconds after liftoff.

the propulsion system inserts the vehicle into a circular orbit. the flight plan calls for a circular orbit. something close to that would be acceptable. be propulsion system can started from the ground and a burn completed to change the orbit will stop as the final figures come up to the flight dynamics officer, no in-flight earns will be needed. they have hit the planned circular orbit of 161 nautical miles. this is a good beginning for any rendezvous flight. back with just what the doctor ordered. the flight director calls for a launch of gemini viii. offshore, the launch site recovery forces are fully deployed and can only wait like the rest of us.

>> t -20 seconds, mark. 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, five, 4, 3, 2, 1 , ignition. liftoff. >> roger, role. good liftoff. roger, pitch program. >> the liftoff came as flight

director hodge requested. gemini viii goes into the clouds high above kate kennedy. as the spacecraft comes out of the clouds, and aerial chase plane picks up for a close look as the is like to ride spacecraft crew on top of a booster. >> looking good. >> after 50 seconds, the crew releases the restraints required for seat ejection. gemini viii was inserted into an miles five 146 miles. >> roger, staging.

>> the launch site is the first contingency passed successfully. the team has been released and returns to other duties. , gemini good orbits viii had a good head start on rendezvous and docking. the maneuvers would be the same of those performed by gemini six. programdoes the space accelerate that it was the primary objective in december. but three months later, it is march and rendezvous seems almost routine. everyone is focused on docking, everyone except those who fly the mission. then, you take things abouty-step all stop >> to mets go, neil armstrong called in and was able to

confirm radar lock had been established. >> roger. do you have solid radar lock? thank you. sounds good. range.mile after radar lock on, the crew circular eyes their orbit inside that of the target vehicle. meantime, the ground does not sit still waiting for something to happen. are shifting in response to the orbit of the spacecraft, changing station according to a detailed plan. , takes position for recovery in the fourth revolution in zone four.

zone three will be the planned landing zone for 5, 6 and seven. after that, they will not be over a planned landing your -- planned landing area. occurs, thency spacecraft will land in a contingency area. recovery is supported by aircraft and available shipping. right now, much of this seems epidemic. visual.ve a >> understand. 76 miles. way to go, partner. >> look at that sucker.

>> i see everything. >> that is great. >> that is really slick. >> the first thing we have to do -- 650-710. nominal current. check your status. i bet those lucky guys are jumping up and down. >> we are looking at the left or command pilots window as the station keeping exercise begins. difficulty had no maneuvering in the vicinity of the agent -- of the a gina. the film was six frames per

second and being projected at four times that speed. after station keeping for 35 minutes, manned pilot armstrong begins to move in closer, preparing his final docking approach. both vehicles are traveling at 17,500 miles an hour. we are looking at the target talking and of the gina. the pilot makes a docking approach applying small thrust increases. it's the maximum velocity difference between the two vehicles. it's about one foot per second. when the command pilot is two feet away, he will pause until he gets a goal -- until he gets a go. the double check has been completed. you are looking good on the ground. go ahead and talk.

>> we are going to hold off until he does get docked. >> go ahead. >> roger. that was it. two vehicles docked for the first time in space. shortly after docking, the crew was surprised when the spacecraft me to cater check in with this caution. >> roger, reading you loud and clear. i have some information for you. if you run into trouble and the control system goes wild, send in command 400 to turn it off

and take control of the spacecraft. >> it was a routine check. the computer and this turns off the attitude control. if the problem's control, that ends it. minutes later, gemini eight passed beyond the island of madagascar. the crew was beginning a series of docking exercises. the mason was between stations. it left 5-3 and was headed to the recovery zone. since we were in the fifth resolution -- revolution, they were updating their times. planned forually six revolutions ahead and stored in the onboard computer. it was about this time that jim level almost qualified for space profit of the year.

for seven hours after liftoff and 27 hours of docking, and excessive motion occurred. the trouble was not in the a gina. an immediated answer, mr. armstrong undocked and the role rate continued to roll up. struggling to regain control, mr. armstrong was forced to refine a reentry clusters and thesert control over spacecraft. neither crewmen experienced loss of orientation. once the reentry thrusters are fired, there's a possibility of fuel leakage in orbit, leaking fuel essential for reentry. the flight had been highly successful through 27 minutes of docking. a decision came quickly.

fuel readings were too low. aboard was the first decision. where do we recover? positions, whether in the pacific, available daylight in recovery zones and the whereabouts of the uss mason, a destroyer which practice picking up a model of gemini came on its own. millions of people learned it suddenly existed. stabilized in flight, there were several advantages to delaying entry. retro fire officer would have an exact reading on times and the crew could prepare for reentry. this is the way it would be. console. toward the

in 7-3.to recover the manager punches the button which puts him in contact with pacific control hawaii. search aircraft scramble from okinawa. they will be over the predicted landing point for the spacecraft splashes down. finalini eight begins its revolution, the weather is excellent in the splashdown area. the crew is busy and has time for only this brief reflection. i would like to argue about going home but i don't know how we can. gemini eight sweeps past ascension island. air to ground can indication's and the rockets fire right on the nose. the crew begins there dissent and this is the view they will see for a long time.

these mountains, the sweep of the pacific will look friendly and hospitable. for gemini viii our rescue craft waiting. two aircraft from okinawa were assigned but five others were alerted and added to the recovery team. only three viii is miles away, ac 54 catches sight of it on the main landing parachute. after that, landing is almost routine and gemini viii landed within two miles of the predicted impact point. the first swimmer in the water is airman first class neil. he's a good man to have on your side. he was quickly followed by two other rescue swimmers. it was early afternoon in the pacific, almost 11:00 at night in the atlantic where the uss walks or had waited.

mason, three hours away at splashdown reach the area at 3:17 local time. crew and spacecraft in good shape were soon aboard. within 72 hours, nasa scientists would pin down the source of trouble -- a short circuit caused the thruster to fire erratically. failureibility of this recurring a slight but a masters which has been added to the gemini spacecraft. this witchn throw and cut off all power to thrusters in future flights. once the difficulty was corrected, we could take time out to realize gemini viii brought us closer to lunar x oration by demonstrating the first successful dock in space. exploration by demonstrating the first successful dock in space.

gemini viii gave many of us the first look at men like the three young rescue swimmers. and crews the captain of the mason, men who were there in every flight on remote stations, doing their duty and doing it well. it was these men who cited crewi viii and took the and spacecraft safely onboard the mason. at that point, we knew the long months of training and close interplay between nasa and the department of defense were sound. mission has ended and the control room is empty, but it will soon fill up again as simulations begin for the next flight. firste achieved our docking in space and experienced our first orbital abort. cameth cases, gemini viii through with flying covers -- flying colors.

>> i am a history buff will stop i do enjoy seeing the fabric of our country and helping work and how they are made. is aerican artifacts fantastic show. with american history tv, it gives you that perspective. >> i think what is so unusual, if i can be sappy for a second, to have professional and a personal partnership over more than 50 years is a really unusual thing. temperament in terms of editing is something i don't stuck closely to

the grunt side of the equation. >> tonight, politico editor susan glasser and the new york times chief white house correspondent join us to talk about their careers and plans to move to israel. a greatgoing to be adventure. we were bureau chiefs in moscow and have done the overseas thing before but we have never spent time in jerusalem or israel and we are looking forward to learning a lot. it could be a real adventure. it's part of the world with a real history to it and is vital in today's issues. we spent a lot of time writing about in washington but have ever actually been there. >> i will be changing roles and in a role at politico helping to lead our editorial growth and innovation.

launched past year, we politico europe. start politico magazine two and half years ago. been a really exciting new platform to take us into ambitious long form reporting and the war of ideas. >> monday, on "the communicators" a privacy in cyber security lawyer and privacy project director for the consumer watchdog discuss how and whether the fcc should propose -- providetc can no longer that --

there is now a rulemaking coming up where the fcc will decide what to put in place in lieu of the rulesting the under the new fcc authorities. >> most of the rules that existed existed in the world of telephones. by that they have extended reclassification the situation to cover isps, they have to come up with walls that are appropriate to the world of the internet, not just telephones. communicators" 2.nday night on c-span >> next, experts discuss the history of campaign finance. they talk about court decisions and legislation that regulated

who can finance campaigns and how much they can give and debate various proposals for improving the system. this discussion was hosted by the national archives. >> thank you for hosting us in this marvelous building. this protects the history of the united states of america. we at the association of the former members of congress, and i want to say that you, we appreciate the partnership we have within the archives. it has resulted in excellent discussions and deliberations across the political aisle. they are not part of -- we are nonpartisan and we hope in november this will bring us to a new time, a new time when the white house and the congress get along. we can only hope. before elections can be one, they need to be run.