Usage Conditions May Apply Usage Conditions Apply There are restrictions for re-using this media. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page. IIIF provides researchers rich metadata and image viewing options for comparison of works across cultural heritage collections. More - https://iiif.si.edu View Manifest View in Mirador Viewer Usage Conditions May Apply Usage Conditions Apply There are restrictions for re-using this media. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page. IIIF provides researchers rich metadata and image viewing options for comparison of works across cultural heritage collections. More - https://iiif.si.edu View Manifest View in Mirador Viewer Usage Conditions May Apply Usage Conditions Apply There are restrictions for re-using this media. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page. IIIF provides researchers rich metadata and image viewing options for comparison of works across cultural heritage collections. More - https://iiif.si.edu View Manifest View in Mirador Viewer Usage Conditions May Apply Usage Conditions Apply There are restrictions for re-using this media. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page. IIIF provides researchers rich metadata and image viewing options for comparison of works across cultural heritage collections. More - https://iiif.si.edu View Manifest View in Mirador Viewer

This left-hand hatch is part of the Gemini IV spacecraft, which flew a four-day mission in space, June 3-6, 1965. The astronauts were James McDivitt, command pilot and Edward White, pilot. McDivitt sat on the left side of the cockpit and this hatch covered his ejection seat. It was not opened in space, unlike White's, which he used to exit the spacecraft for the first American EVA (spacewalk).

Gemini hatches were designed to open extremely rapidly during an emergency ejection, the astronauts' escape method from a failing launch vehicle on the pad or in the lower parts of the Earth's atmosphere. Otherwise, the hatches were only open before launch, for the insertion of the astronauts, during a mission for an EVA by the pilot (right side only), or at the end of the mission.

NASA Manned Spacecraft Center gave this Gemini IV hatch to the Smithsonian in 1967.

 Display Status

This object is not on display at the National Air and Space Museum. It is either on loan or in storage.
Object Details
Country of Origin United States of America Type SPACECRAFT-Crewed-Parts & Structural Components Manufacturer McDonnell Douglas Corporation
 Dimensions Approximate: 1 ft. 3in. deep x 4 ft. 3in. long x 3 ft. 1in. wide (38.1 x 129.54 x 93.98cm)
 Materials titanium structure with Rene 41 (nickel-steel alloy) exterior shingles; double-paned glass window; interior fabric padding
 Inventory Number A19680035000 Credit Line Transferred from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Data Source National Air and Space Museum Restrictions & Rights Usage conditions apply
For more information, visit the Smithsonians Terms of Use.