On June 3 , 1965 , cosmonaut Ed White climb out of Gemini 4 , becomingthe first American to perform a spacewalk . It was just past 3:45 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time . He was seize to an 8 - time tether , and maneuvered using a handheld gun that spat compressed atomic number 8 ( it ran out of propellant after just 3 minutes , after which he just yanked on the tether to move around ) .
The spacewalk lasted 23 minutes , but it was a huge breakthrough for NASA . White and Command Pilot Jim McDivitt had some trouble opening the hatch at first , but they managed it finally . The pair expose that their communications system was a bit flaky ; for the duration of the spacewalk , White could n’t get wind CAPCOM ( though they could hear him ) , relying on McDivitt to relay substance . Comically , McDivitt handle to put his own arrangement in a mode where he could n’t find out CAPCOM either , and busied himself taking photos and movies while White was having the clock time of his life .
CAPCOM became increasingly frustrated , repeatedly examine to raise the cosmonaut to cue them of the 20 - minute fourth dimension limit , without a response . The timing was lively because CAPCOM would lose wireless link past a receiving set blackout stage , and they want their astronaut safely in the spacecraft when that happened . Finally , McDivitt change his communication organization to a fashion where he could hear the ground . This exchangespeaks volume :
He came in .
White was the second human to perform a spacewalk ; he was antecede by cosmonaut Alexey Leonov , who made his walk just a few months earlier , on March 18 , 1965 . White was one of three cosmonaut who died in the tragic Apollo 1 blast in January 1967 .
Here ’s ashort film , narrate by White himself , about the spacewalk . ( Sound set forth around the 30 - second mark . ) It ’s wild seeing the literal film McDivitt accept of the spacewalk . Behold :
