Gemini 4

Gemini IV

Ed White, the first American to perform extravehicular activity, outside of Gemini IV
Mission type	Extravehicular activity
Operator	NASA
COSPAR ID	1965-043A[1]
SATCAT no.	1390[2]
Mission duration	4 days, 1 hour, 56 minutes, 12 seconds
Distance travelled	2,590,600 kilometers (1,398,800 nautical miles)
Orbits completed	66 (62 revolutions)
Spacecraft properties
Spacecraft	Gemini SC4
Manufacturer	McDonnell
Launch mass	3,570 kilograms (7,880 lb)
Crew
Crew size	2
Members	James A. McDivitt Edward H. White II
EVAs	1
EVA duration	36  minutes
Start of mission
Launch date	June 3, 1965, 15:15:59 (1965-06-03UTC15:15:59Z) UTC
Rocket	Titan II GLV, s/n 62-12559
Launch site	Cape Kennedy LC-19
End of mission
Recovered by	USS Wasp
Landing date	June 7, 1965, 17:12:11 (1965-06-07UTC17:12:12Z) UTC
Landing site	North Atlantic Ocean 27°44′N 74°11′W / 27.733°N 74.183°W / 27.733; -74.183
Orbital parameters
Reference system	Geocentric
Regime	Low Earth orbit
Perigee altitude	165 kilometers (89 nmi)
Apogee altitude	289 kilometers (156 nmi)
Inclination	32.5 degrees
Period	89.03 minutes
Epoch	June 3, 1965[2]
(L-R) White, McDivitt Project Gemini ← Gemini 3 Gemini 5 →

Gemini 4 (officially Gemini IV)^[3] was the second crewed spaceflight in NASA's Project Gemini, occurring in June 1965. It was the tenth crewed American spaceflight (including two X-15 flights at altitudes exceeding 100 kilometers (54 nmi)). Astronauts James McDivitt and Ed White circled the Earth 66 times in four days, making it the first US flight to approach the five-day flight of the Soviet Vostok 5. The highlight of the mission was the first space walk by an American, during which White floated free outside the spacecraft, tethered to it, for approximately 23 minutes.

The flight also included the first attempt to make a space rendezvous as McDivitt attempted to maneuver his craft close to the Titan II upper stage which launched it into orbit, but this was not successful.

The flight was the first American flight to perform many scientific experiments in space, including use of a sextant to investigate the use of celestial navigation for lunar flight in the Apollo program.