Object Details
Manufacturer
Black and Decker Manufacturing Company, USA
Martin Co.
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 tool head and handle to the Smithsonian in 1967 as part of a set of Gemini EVA prototype tools.
Credit Line
Gift of the Martin Company
Inventory Number
A19680031000
Restrictions & Rights
Usage conditions apply
Type
EQUIPMENT-Tools
Materials
Aluminum, Steel, Rubber, Paint, Cadmium
Dimensions
3-D (Motor with cord coiled): 29.2 x 6 x 29.2cm, 2.5kg (11 1/2 x 2 3/8 x 11 1/2 in., 5 5/8lb.)
Other (Motor Cord): 166.4cm (65 1/2 in.)
Country of Origin
United States of America
See more items in
National Air and Space Museum Collection
Data Source
National Air and Space Museum
Link to Original Record
Record ID
nasm_A19680031000