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The Medical Report. NASA officials in Houston were delighted at the EVA performance. Medically, White had responded well. His usual on-the-ground pulse beat of 50 soared to 178 as he re-entered the capsule, but that was not considered dangerous under the circumstances. When reporters asked if White might have become euphoric during his voyage, Dr. Berry quickly said: "I think it's just elation at being out there, doing this task."
As the flight went into the weekend, the medical tests continued. Dr. Berry was particularly concerned about orthostatic hypertension, a drop in blood pressure combined with an abnormally rapid heartbeat, which can bring on fainting spells. "What this means," said Berry, "is that the cardiovascular sys tem simply gets lazy because the heart doesn't have to work anywhere nearly as hard to circulate the blood. In weightlessness, there's no pressure on the heart — being a muscle, it gets lazy and merely does what it needs to do."
Throughout their flight, both White and McDivitt did nip-ups. Using a "bungee cord" — a tough length of rub ber with a loop at one end, a T handle at the other — the astronauts put their feet in the loop, pulled up on the handle 30 times in 30 seconds. It took 60 Ibs.
of force to stretch the rubber. For com parison purposes, White was to exer cise four times a day, McDivitt just once. Before the flight was half over, McDivitt requested—and received-permission to exercise more often. "I just haven't moved around very much," he said.
Dehydration was another potential danger, and the Houston controllers often reminded White and McDivitt that they should take a drink of water. Astronauts require at least two quarts of water a day—more than double the usual earth-bound need—because their space suits' cooling systems evaporate perspiration as it forms, thus increasing the loss of body fluids. If McDivitt and White failed to drink their quota, they could return to earth as wrinkled as prunes.
The menu aloft included dishes such as beef pot roast, banana pudding and fruitcake. It even catered to McDivitt's Roman Catholicism by having fish dishes for Friday. But the food was less than tasty: either freeze-dried or dehydrated, it was mixed with water in plastic bags, kneaded until it became mushy, and it had all the consistency of baby food.
Sanitation was another problem. Neither astronaut could shave during the flight. They had only small, damp wash rags with which to mop their faces. Liquid body wastes went overboard through a urine transfer system. Solid wastes were stored in the craft in self-sealing bags containing disinfectant pills.
Party Line. Once the excitement of White's walk beyond the capsule had subsided, both astronauts took four-hour naps. Because they could not turn the volume in their headsets all the way down, they were occasionally jarred from sleep by radio transmissions from the ground. During the 33rd revolution, Gus Grissom told McDivitt: "Look, we don't have very much for you to do in the flight plan for the next 18 hours. So we would like for both of you to get a good long sleep, and we want whoever is asleep to unplug his headset so he can get a good solid, sound sleep. O.K.?" McDivitt gratefully agreed.