DEPARTMENT of DEFENSE GEMINI SUPPORT * * * * BOOSTER LAUNCH ORBITAL SUPPORT EXPERIMENTS RECOVERYMEMORANDUM FOR THE PRESS Department of Defense support of GTA-6 will be nore complex than previous manned missions with the Air Force Eastern Test Range supporting two launches within a short period of time requiring a similtaneous countdown of the Atlas-Agena and Gemini-Titan II boosters, Otherwise, ‘the mission will be supported basically the same as in previous manned orbital flights. Please contact our information desk in the GTA-6 News Center for further details on any portion of the DOD support, ircluding photographs and biographies of key people. sihcerely, LEIAM Lt. Col., USAF Assistant for Public Afffirs DOD Mgr for Manned Space Flt Sup Ops Ny Jee10-11 1-2 12-13 13-4 U-15 15-16 17 CONTENTS Subject Launch Phase DOD Support of GTA-6 Supporting Forces Recovery Forces DOD Experiments Launch Site Recovery Forces Bioastronautic Support Air Force Chase Planes Gemini Network Weather Support Space Systems Division 6555th ATW PHOTOSLAUNCH PHASE If all goes as planned, simultaneous countdown for the launch of the ‘Agena Target Vehicle and the Gemini spacecraft will begin on launch day at 0245 AM (EST), The 530 minute count will be geared tc the lift-off of the Gemini Launch Vehicle. Control of the count will follow this schedule: T minus $69 - Start integrated countdown from Blockhouse 19 sequencer. (From this time until T minus 185, the count will be paced by the Gemini Launch Vehicle.) T minus 185 - A programmed “automatic hold fire" stops the Blockhouse 19 sequencer. A Blockhouse 1, "sequencer run" signal overrides the automatic hold and the countdown resumes now paced by the Atlas Agena booster. T minus 95 - Atlas Agena lift-off. T minus 91 - "Automatic hold fire" in Blockhouse 19 programs off, and normal countdown for Gemini Launch Vehicle continues through lift-off, Procedures to handle this space double header have been under development, at the Air Force Eastern Test Range for several years. Within the Cape Cen- tral Control, side-by-side range safety consoles will monitor the count of each booster and the critical boost phase of each. Captain N, L, Oexmann will be range safety officer for the Gemini Launch and Captain C, P, Boyle will be range safety officer for the Atlas Agena, Each booster will have its own Superintendent of Range Operations directing the supporting range elements with each reporting to an overall superintendent for coordination. ~more-Major LeDewey "Jack" Allen will direct the Air Force/Industry team in Blockhouse 1, for the target vehicle launch, and Lt, Col. John "Jack" Albert will direct the Air Force/Industry team in Blockhouse 19 to boost astronauts Schirra and Stafford into orbit. Both launch crews are assigned to the 6555th Aerospace Test Wing under Air Force Systems Conmand's Space Systems Division. Success of the simultaneous countdown is highly dependent on the communi- cations Links between the blockhouses, Cape Central Control, Houston Mission Control and the Instrumentation sites at the Cape, on the Florida mainland and the downrange stations at Grand Bahama, Grand Turk and Antigua Islands, Range instrumentation at the Cape and the downrange stations will per- form double duty on a tightly controlled schedule to satisfy the require- nents of safety, guidance and data flow in the first critical moments of flight for both rockets. Operations complexities of the rendezvous mission will present an ever changing pattern of support should the Gemini launch be delayed, Launch win- dows for the Gemini spacecraft range from two hours 16 minutes on launch day to as much as four hours five minutes the second day, with launch azimuth of the Gemini vehicle changing over a range of 81° through 105°, Launch abort recovery forces would be required to move from day to day should delays be encountered, and range radars also would work on different schedules to meet, the changing tracking and telemetry requirements. Detailed information concerning the launch vehicles countdown and launch windows is available in the Martin Company Press Handbook and the NASA Press Kit. 2DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE SUPPORT oF GrA-6 The Department of Defense will support the sixth GEMINI flight, GTA-6, throughout all phases of the mission, from launch to final splash-down and re~ covery of the astronauts and spacecraft. To accomplish the many tasks required, approximately 10,000 DOD personnel will be positioned at various points from Cape Kennedy around the world. These forces will be under the direction of Lt, Gen. Leighton I, Davis, USAF, Commander of the National Range Division, who has been designated by the Secretary of Defense as DOD Manager for Manned Space Flight Support Operations. Under the direct cognizance of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Davis is re- sponsible for the coordination of all DOD support to manned space flight pro~ grams. He sted in this capacity by a Deputy Mansger, Maj. Gen, Vincent G, Huston, USAF, Functioning as a mission planning staff for General Davis is the DOD Manned Space Flight Support Office, which coordinates NASA requirements with DOD forces in the areas of Launch, Network, Communications, Recovery, Bioastronautics, Weather and Public Affeirs. A major task of the DOD in support of the GEMINI mission is the operation of many of the global tracking and instrumentation facilities which comprise the network system. These facilities maintain electronic contact with the space~ craft for communications and data acquisition purposes. DCD provides fourteen of the twenty-three network tracking stations, including the three ocean range vessels, ROSE KNOT, COASTAL SENTRY, and WHEELING. 3Another major task of the DOD is the recovery of the astronauts and space- craft at the termination of the mission. Recovery forces will be stationed in various areas throughout the world. The major portion of these forces will be located in four high-probability landing areas in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. The primary landing area is located about six hundred niles southwest of Bermuda where the aircraft carrier, USS WASP, a veteran of the GI-J mission, will be the primary recovery vessel. Alternate areas are located in the eastern Atlantic near the Canary Islands, the mid-Pacific north of Hawaii, and in the western Pacific near Okinawa. Atlantic recovery forces will be under the operationsl control of Rear Admiral William C, Abhau, Commander Task Force 140, while his counterpart in the Pacific area will be Rear Admiral Henry S, Persons, Comander Task Force 130, SUPPORTING FORCES In support of GTA-6, the Department of Defense will provide: “From Air Force Systems Conmand's Space Systems Divisicn, the launch crews for the Gemini spacecraft and the Agena target vehicle. ‘From the U, S. Navy's Atlantic Fleet, 12 ships and 47 aircraft and heli- copters operating in Task Force 140. *From the Pacific Fleet, 5 ships and 25 aircraft operating in Task Force 130, From the Air Force Air Rescue Service, 32 aircraft, 4 helicopters, and about 75 pararescuemen operating in Task Forces 140, 130, Launch Site Recovery Force and in 12 locations around the world for use in primary and contingency recovery operations, if required. “From the Army, Navy and Air Force 11 tracking stations and 3 instrumented ships linked with NASA resources to form the Manned Space Flight Trecking Network, 4From the Air Force Eastern Test Range the complete support facilities at Cape Kennedy to launch two missiles within 101 minutes. ‘wo of the instrumented range ships for varied mission use and 7 range aircraft for telemetry, search, and automatic voice relay from the spacecraft. *From the Pacific Missile Range 3 instrumented aircra‘t. *From the Army, Navy and Air Force 74 especially trained doctors and medi- cal specialists to give on-scene assistance to the pilots if needed, including 10 flight surgeons to serve as medical monitors in the tracking stations. *Communications systems where needed. ¥In all, approximately 10,000 people representing a wide variety of skills to support the GTA-6 mission. RECOVERY FORCES Recovery of astronauts Schirra and Stafford and their epacecraft is ex- pected to occur in a planned landing area in the Atlantic Ocean about 600 miles southwest of Bermuda. ‘There, combined forces of the Navy and Air Force will be deployed in various locations ready to give assistance to the astronauts and effect recovery of the spacecraft after the GTA-6 mission. The Navy will have ships and (carrier) aircraft, including helicopters, twin engine anti-submarine aircraft, (one) carrier-on-boaré delivery aircraft, and four electronic search aircraft to support the planned landing. Air Force aircraft, primarily from the Air Rescue Service, will be on station in the recovery areas to assist as needed. Task Force 140 forces will be located in the Atlantic region as follows: Task Group 140.1 - Launch Site Recovery Force at Cape Kennedy in event, of an emergency occuring during lift-off. FurtherTask Group 140.2 - ‘Task Group 140.3 - ‘Task Group 140.4 - ‘Task Group 140.5 - Task Group 140.6 - detaile may be found on page 10. Underwater Recovery Group., This foree consists of 2 Navy minesweepers, the USS Fearless and USS Fidelity, and one salvage vessel, the USS Paiute. This group will conduct underwater search, recovery, salvage operations as necessary and provide CTG-140.1 assistance in search and recovery as directed. Western Atlantic Recovery Group. Four ships are assigned to this area including the primary recovery ship, the aircraft carrier USS Wasp, assisted by the destroyers USS Basilone, USS J, Ingram and USS Borie, Rear Admiral William N. Leonard will be aboard the Wasp to direct recovery operations in the primary zone. Middle Atlantic Recovery Group. One destroyer, USS Massey, will be stationed in this area for coverage in event of a launch abort. Eastern Atlantic Recovery Group. The fleet oiler USS Aucilla, and the destroyers USS Stickel], USS Noa and USS R, E, Kraus, will be stationed in the Eastern Atlantic to effect recovery activities in the event of @ launch abort or landing in this area. Western Atlantic Weather Reconnaissance Group. ‘Two Air Force WC-130 weather aircraft provided by the 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron will maintain a weather watch for the Western Atlantic, These aircraft will stage from Ramey AFB, Puerto Rico.Task Group 140.7 - Task Group 140.8 - Task Group 140.9 - Air Force aircraft Eastern Atlantic Weather Reconnaissance Group. ‘Two Navy W0-121 weather aircraft provided by Airborne Early Warning Squadron Four will provide weather reconnaissance for the Eastern Atlantic Area. ‘They will stage from Dakar, Senegal. Air Rescue Service Recovery Control Center, This group will coordinate and control through the Recovery Control Center (RCC) those DOD aircraft assigned for planned re~ covery areas until they have reached assigned stations and reported in to their respective Task Group Commanders for operational control, The Sub-RCC will be located at Kindley AFB, Bermuda. Recovery Control Center, San Pablo, Spain. This. group will coordinate DOD aircraft assigned for the launch/ abort areas and contingency staging bases through the designated Sub-RCC's, These Sub-RCC's will be located at Dakar, Ascension, Aden and Mauritius. are assigned as follows: ATLANTIC AREA (RCC CAPE KENNEDY) Kindley AFB, Bermda Five HC-97's and 2 HC-130's with over 20 parares- cuemen will take station along the launch azimith to provide cover in event of an abort after lift- off, For re-entry coverage, 2 HC-97's, each with pararescuemen aboard, will fly uprange and down range from the planned impact, area.AFRICAN AREA (RCC SAN PABLO, SPAIN Dakar Three HC-97's with 6 pararescuemen will stage from Dakar as mission requires. Ascension ‘wo HO-97's with 2 pararescuemen aboard each, on strip alert. Kano One C~130 with UHLB aboard, on strip alert. Aden One C~130 with UHLB aboard, on strip alert. Moron, Spain One 0-130 command and control aircraft, on strip alert. Wheelus AFB, One C-130 maintenance and support aircraft, on strip Libya alert. Contingency forces will be deployed world-wide to. support 8 possible land- ing in these areas as follows: MIDDIE EAST, SOUTHEAST ASTA, AFRICA SOUTH OF THE SAHARA (RCO SAN PABLO) Mauritius ‘wo HC-97's with 2 pararescuemen aboard each on strip alert. SOUTH AMERICAN AREA (RCC ALBROOK AFB) Lima, Peru ‘Two HC-97's with 2 pararescuemen aboard each on strip alert. Rio de Janerio,Two HC~54's with 2 pararescuemen aboard each, on strip Brazil alert. Also support Pacific area. Task Force 130 units will be deployed throughout the Pacific to cover western and mid-Pacific secondary zones and contingency landings. The Western Pacific Recovery Group is under the command of Captain R. Kirk, Commander of Destroyer Division 32. Ships of this group are the destroyers USS Rupertus and USS George K. MacKenzie, Captain Kirk will be on the Rupertus 8in the Western Pacific Landing Zone, approximtely 500 miles south of Yokosuka, Japan. Captain W. W. Turner, Commander, Destroyer Division 252 is Comander of the Middle Pacific Group. Ships under his command are the guided missile destroyer USS Cockrane, the destroyer USS Renshaw, and the fleet oiler USS Chipola, Captain ‘Tuer will be aboard the USS Cockrane in the Missle Pacific Recovery Zone, some 700 miles north east of Honolulu. Commander Task Force 130 will direct his forces from the Pacific Recovery Control Center near Pearl Harbor. Conmander-in-Chief, Pacific Air Forces, will provide 16 aircraft at staging bases across the Pacific to support the mission, These aircraft will be located as follows: Okinawa Two HC-54's with 2 pararescuemen aboard each aircraft, and 2 HU-16's, on strip alert. Singapore ‘Two HC-97's with 2 pararescuemen aboard each, on strip alert. Perth, Australia ‘Two HC-97's with 2 pararescuemen aboard each, on strip alert. Pago Pago, Samoa Two HC-97's with 2 pararescuemen aboard each, on strip alert, Hickam AFB, Hawaii Two HC-97's with 2 pararescuerien aboard each, on strip alert. Also two AF JC~130's and two Navy EC-121's, on strip alert. In addition, Commander, West Area, US Coast Guard, will provide aircraft for mission support at the following location: San Diego, California Two HC-130B's with three members of Navy UnderwaterDemolition Team Eleven assigned, on strip alert. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE EXPERIMENTS Some of the Department of Defense experiments scheduled for the GTA-6 flight have been cancelled. Complete information on the DOD experiments will be covered in a separate release, LAUNCH SITE RECOVERY FORCES ‘A small but highly specialized Launch Site Recovery Team will be ready to recover the astronauts in the event of an emergency in the launch abort area. ‘This team is headed by It, Col, William D. Baxter, Director of Range Safety for the Air Force Eastern Test Range who will be directing recovery operations from an airborne Command Post aboard a CH-30 helicopter, His force will include four Air Rescue Service helicopters, two HU-16's, four Army LARC vehicles, two surveillance boats, one LOU, two Navy ships, two Marine LVIR's and two M-113 armored personnel carriers. ‘The CH-3C command post becomes airborne and on statior at T-35 minutes. At this point communications are established with the recovery forces, the range, the test conductor at the launch site and, if needed, with the astronauts in the spacecraft. ‘At T-15 minutes, the remaining three CH-3C's become airborne and report to assigned stations so that everything is in readiness for the flight. Two missile recovery ships will be located approximately 10 miles off-shore adjacent to the normal Gemini flight path while two N-113 vehicles will be lo- cated at Complex 19. The remaining team is located in adjecent areas to the launch pad, ready to move into a recovery area at a moments notice. The Gemini astronauts capability to eject from their spacecraft creates a 10more complex problem for the launch site recovery force. Rescue units must not only be in the immediate landing area to aid astronauts in staying afloat, and to provide possible emergency medical assistance, but mst be able to provide these services simultaneously and at two different locations. BIOASTRONAUTIC SUPPORT A total of 74 physicians and medical specialists will be deployed around the world during the GTA-6 mission to provide Department of Defense Bicastronau- tic Support where needed, This medical effort is under the direction of Col. William K, Douglas, Assistant for Bioastronautics to the DOD Manager. There will be 10 DOD flight surgeons at tracking stations in the Gemini network to monitor the in-flight condition of the astronauts. These surgeons assess medical information returned from the spacecraft and report to the NASA Director of Medical Operations in the Mission Control Center at Houston, Texas. At the launch site, in case of @ mission abort, four general surgeons and eight medical technicians are available to provide immediate emergency surgical care, There will also be a surgical team pre-positioned in the Bioastronautics Operational Support Unit (BOSU) at the Cape to provide definitive treatment of the flight crew. The EOSU is a two-bed hospital modernly equipped designed especially for use of emergency treatment in event of an unsuccessful lift-off necessitating termination of the flight in the launch area, Onboard the recovery ships in the Atlantic Ocean will be five general surgeons, four anesthesiologicts, and eight medical technicians, while in the Pacific region two general surgeons, two anesthesiologists and three medical technicians will be on station. The Atlantic group will ixclude manning the ships slong the path where the spacecraft would be brought down in the event phy