Space gun (maneuvering unit)

Space gun (maneuvering unit)

The space gun was a hand-held Manned Maneuvering Unit used by American astronaut Ed White on the first spacewalk in 1965. The device used a pressurized oxygen jet to control and propel the astronaut via conservation of momentum.

The gun was described as easier to use than other methods of maneuvering during space-walking. It provided the impulse to leave the Gemini capsule, and was the easiest way to move in the microgravity environment, but quickly ran out of propellant, forcing White to use a tether to continue maneuvers.

External Sources

* [http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/gemini_4_eva.html Gemini 4 Extravehicular Activity] summary from NASA
* [http://history.nasa.gov/Apollo204/zorn/white.htm Biography of Ed White] from NASA history archive.


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