Gemini capsule interior lights

[I14R10]

Hi everyone

I was looking at Gemini capsule interior schematics, and it seems to me that they only had two lights inside, like you can see on this photo in the upper left corner. Is that all? It seems that only these two lights would not light up interior very well.

[joema]

I think those were cabin flood lights. There were also separate flood lights for the instrument panels, which could be adjusted between white and red to preserve night vision. The instruments also had their own lights.

The Gemini instrument panel flood lights were located on the hatches themselves and are difficult to see in most photographs. Here is a hatch showing that light just left of the window as oriented:
https://airandspace.si.edu/sites/default/files/images/collection-objects/record-images/NASM-461E520A844F2_001.jpg

https://airandspace.si.edu/collection-objects/floodlight-instrument-gemini-static-5-0
http://geminiguide.com/Systems/cabin.html#CABIN_INTERIOR_LIGHTING

On Apollo the instrument panel lettering was electroluminescent - it softly glowed even in the dark, but the brightness was adjustable.

The depiction of Gemini/Apollo interiors as primitive, rusted, almost steampunk in appearance is wrong. They were all brand new, just off the assembly line, well illuminated, and astronauts (esp. Pete Conrad) were deeply involved in ergonomics and lighting.

The "primitive" depiction comes from several sources:

(1) The period photographic technology of the day. Today we take for granted taking ultra-low-light photos with a full-frame DSLR camera. Back then, Kodachrome was ASA 64 speed. Some faster color positive films were available but in general taking an existing-light photo in a dark confined space was difficult. Thus many of the period photos of spacecraft interiors do not show the intricate instrument lighting.

(2) Museum appearance of spacecraft exhibits. These are powered off, typically illuminated by external house lights. They make the cabin interior look bleak and primitive.

(3) Movie film directors who don't understand this and (maybe after looking at museum exhibits) want to deliver a specific visual concept depicting early manned spaceflight as primitive. A good example of this is the recent movie "First Man". By contrast "Apollo 13" more closely depicted the actual cabin and instrument lighting.

Here's a good document on lighting used on the Apollo CSM/LM: https://www.hq.nasa.gov/alsj/20090016336.pdf

[I14R10]

Thanks Joema, very useful informations. I saw those things on hatches, but I didn't understand they were supposed to be lights.