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Drill Attachment, Zero-G Tool, Gemini

Object Details

Summary
In the mid-1960s, the Martin Company in Baltimore, Maryland, developed a set of prototype space tools for use during zero-G EVA (spacewalking in weightlessness) for the Gemini program. The U.S. Air Force Systems Command's Aero Propulsion Laboratory at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Dayton, Ohio, financed the development for astronaut experiments. Working with the commercial tool maker Black & Decker, Martin developed a set of tools that neutralized the reaction forces normally created by applying force or rotation while working in zero gravity. Tools were to be tested during EVAs on Gemini VIII and XI in 1966, but for different reasons, the experiments were never done.
The Martin Company gave this drill attachment to the Smithsonian in 1967 as part of a set of Gemini EVA prototype tools.
Data Source
National Air and Space Museum
Manufacturer
Black and Decker Manufacturing Company, USA
Martin Co.
Credit Line
Gift of the Martin Company
Materials
HAZMAT: Possible Cadmium Plating, Lead
Aluminum, Steel, Brass
Dimensions
Approximate: 20.6 x 9.8cm, 1.5kg (8 1/8 x 3 7/8 in., 3 3/16lb.)
Type
EQUIPMENT-Tools
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