60 years ago, Ed White went out for walk | Space photo of the day for June 3, 2025

NASA astronaut Ed White is seen on the first American spacewalk from the vantage point of his Gemini capsule on June 3, 1965. (Image credit: NASA)

On this day (June 3) 60 years ago, a NASA astronaut stepped outside his Gemini spacecraft and made history as the first American to perform an extavehicular activity (EVA), or spacewalk.

What is it?

NASA astronaut Edward H. White II left his Gemini 4 capsule and crew mate Jim McDivitt for a 20-minute spacewalk on June 3, 1965. It was only the second extravehicular activity (EVA) ever made (the first was by Soviet-era cosmonaut Alexei Leonov a few months earlier) and the first by an American.

White brought with him a camera and a small jet pack; the latter did not work very well. He was connected to his spacecraft by an umbilical.

Where is it?

Gemini 4 entered an orbit about Earth between 103 and 180 miles (165 and 289 kilometers) in altitude. During the spacewalk, White was in radio contact with ground controllers in Hawaii and Houston.

Why is it amazing?

There are other, better-composed photos of White on the same historic spacewalk, but this one can be used to illustrate one of, if not the most important lesson NASA learned from his EVA: They did not know how yet to spacewalk.

White floated well enough, but he had no real control of his movements, even with a prototype handheld jet pack. There were no handrails for him to use on the outside of the Gemini capsule, and he had not trained in neutral buoyancy underwater — the best analog for the conditions in the vacuum of space.

Still, even with the troubles he encountered, White called the end of his EVA the "saddest moment" of his life.

Want to learn more?

You can read more about the history and basics of spacewalking and learn more about Ed White's Gemini 4 EVA.

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Robert Z. Pearlman
collectSPACE.com Editor, Space.com Contributor

Robert Pearlman is a space historian, journalist and the founder and editor of collectSPACE.com, a daily news publication and community devoted to space history with a particular focus on how and where space exploration intersects with pop culture. Pearlman is also a contributing writer for Space.com and co-author of "Space Stations: The Art, Science, and Reality of Working in Space” published by Smithsonian Books in 2018.In 2009, he was inducted into the U.S. Space Camp Hall of Fame in Huntsville, Alabama. In 2021, he was honored by the American Astronautical Society with the Ordway Award for Sustained Excellence in Spaceflight History. In 2023, the National Space Club Florida Committee recognized Pearlman with the Kolcum News and Communications Award for excellence in telling the space story along the Space Coast and throughout the world.

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