mercury - atlas 6 at a glance

7/30/2019 Mercury - Atlas 6 at a Glance

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Release No. 62-8

LENATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMiNISTRATION400 MARYLAND AVENUE, SW, WASHINGTON 25, D.C.TELEPHONES WORTH 2-4J55-WORTH 3-1110fOR RELEASE: Sundaya.m.'s .January 21" 1962

MERCURY-ATLAS 6 AT A GLANCEMISSION - - Manned orbi ta l f l ight to (1) evaluatethe performance of a man-spacecraft system; (2) invest igatemanls capabil i t ies in the space environment; (3) obtain thepi lo t ' s opinions on the operational sui tabi l i ty or thespacecraft and supporting systems for manned space f l ight .LAUNCH DATE - - The f l ight currently i s scheduledno ear l ie r than January 24, 1962. On whatever day, thelaunch will be attempted between 7:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m.and may !Islip" on a day-to-day basis as required. Launchtiming will be planned to provide a t least three hours ofdaylight search time in the probable recovery areas.FLIGHT DURATION - - Depending on l i t e ra l ly thousandsof variables, the Mercury Operations Director (Manned Space

craf t Center Associate Director Walter C. Williams) may electa one, two or three-orbi t mission. That decision will bemade onlyminutes before launch and may be changed a t anytime during the mission. Recovery af ter one fu l l orbi t 1splanned for"about 500 miles east of Bermuda; af te r two orbi t s ,some 500 miles south of Bermuda; three orbi t s , about 800miles southeast of Cape Canaveral, Fla.. Each orbi t takesabout 90 minutes) carrying the craf t between 100 and 150mlles al t i tude, 32 degrees north and south of the ~ q u a t o r .I f the mission ends af te r orbi t one or two, theastronaut will be moved to the Kindley Air Force BaseH)spital in Bermuda for a 48-hour res t and debriefing.I f the mission goes a fu l l three 'orbits, he wil l be flownt ) Grand Turk Island (Bahamas) for a similar operation

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PILOT -- Astronaut John H. Glenn, J r . , 40. Al ieutenant colonel in the United. States Marine Corps,Glenn has been with NASA for three years on a detachedduty basis . Backup pi lo t for this f l ight i s AstronautM. Scot t Carpenter, 36. (See biographies) .

SPACECRAFT - - Bell-shaped, the MA-6 craf t - -l i s ted as No. 13 in engineering documents and named"Friendship 7" by Astronaut Glenn - - stands 9! feethigh and measures 6 feet across the base. Spacecraftweight a t launch wil l be about 4,200 pounds; spacecraftweight in orbi t (af ter je t t isoning of escape tower) - -3,000 pounds;on-the-water recovery weight - - 2,400 pounds.Prime contractor for the spacecraft i s McDonnell AircraftCorp. of St . Louis, Mo.LAUNaRVEHICLE - - A modified Atlas D i s used tolaunch orbi ta l Mercury missions, reaching a speed of

17,500 miles per hour. At launch, booster and spacecrafts.tand 93 feet t a l l , including a l6-foot tower above thespacecraft . The tower contains a sol id propellant rockethooked to an abort sensing system. Should trouble developon the launch pad or in the early boost phase of the mission,the escape ~ s t e m wil l be tr iggered -- automatically or bythe pi lo t or from the ground - - to pul l the spacecraftaway from the booster. The booster is manufactured by theAstronautics Division of General Dynamics Corp.NETWORK - - The Mercury Tracking Network consists of18 s tat ions around the world, including two ships, one onthe equator in the Atlantic off the coast of Africa and

the other in the Indian Ocean. Some 500 technicians manthese s ta t ions , a l l of which are in radio or cable conununi-cation with the Mercury Control Center a t the Cape via theNASA Goddard Spaceflight Center a t Greenbelt, Md.

R E C O ~ - - More than 20 ships wil l be deployed inthe Atlantic alone to take care of prime and contingencyrecovery areas. Recovery forces are under the conunand ofRear Admiral John L. Chew, Conunander of Destroyer Flot i l laFour. In addition, ships and rescue planes around theworld wil l go into action in the event of an emergencylanding. More than 15,000 men t 'lill have a hand in therecovery, search and rescue effor t .

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RESPONSIBILITIES - - ,Project Mercury, the nat ion 'sf i r s t manned space f l ight research project , was conceivedand is directed by the National Aeronautics and SpaceAdministration, a. civi l ian agency of the governmentcharged with the exploration of space for peaceful andscient i f ic purposes. Technical project direction forMercury i s supplied by NASA's Manned Spa(!ecraft Center,directed by Robert R. Gilruth at Langley Field, Va., andsoon to move to Houston, Texas. The Department of Defense,largely through the Air Force and Navy, provides vi ta lsupport for Mercury. DOD support i s directed by MajorGeneral Leighton I . Davis, USAF, Commander of the AtlanticMissile Range. In a l l ; more than 30,000 persons willhave a part in this mission, including government andindustry.

PROJECT COST -- Total Project Mercury cost throughorbi ta l f l ight i s estimated a.t $400 mill ion. About $160million will have gone to the prime spacecraft contractor ,McDonnell and i t s subcontractors and suppliers; $95 millionfor the network operat ionsj$85 million for boosters, in-cluding Atlases, Redstones and Lit t le Joesj $25 millionfor recovery operations and roughly $35 million for support-ing research in diverse areas.

MISSION PILOT TASKS - - The MA-6 pi lo t will performmany control tasks during f l ight to obtain maximum dataon spacecraft performance, his own rea.ctions to weight-lessness and s t ress , and to study the characteris t ics ofthe earth and stars from his vantage point over 100 milesabove the ear th ' s surfa.ce. .The Astronaut will part ic ipate actively during thef l ight . This \'1ill include the following tasks:(1) Manage the operation of a l l spacecraftsystems, part icularly the att i tude controlsystem, elect r ical system, environmental. control system, and communications systems.(2) Observe and correct any discrepancies insystem operation. Discrp.pancies will becorrelated with t e l e m e t e ~ e d observations re-ceived at ground s tat ions .(3) Monitor cr i t i ca l events during launch, andterminate the mission i f necessary.(4) Maintain a complete navigation log duringf l ight which will enable him to compute hisre t ro-f i re time i f ground communications shouldfa i l . This onboard navigation , ' lill includeperiscope ground sightings which indicateposit ion over ground and al t i tude.

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Until orbi ta l inser t ion, the abort sensing systemwil l continue to watch for trouble. I f signif icantdeviation should occur, the system will actuate circui tsto release the spacecraft- to-Atlas clamp ring and f i rethe posigrade rockets on the base of the spacecraft .

About five minutes af te r l i f t -o f f , guidance groundcommand wil l shut down the sustainer and vernier engines.As the engines shut down, the spacecraft- to-booster clampring is released Butomatical lyand posigrade rockets aref i red to separate the craf t from the Atlas.

ORBITAL INSERTION - - After a few seconds ofautomatic damping - get t ing r id of any unusual motions -the spacecraft wil l swing 180 degrees so tha t the bluntface of the craf t i s turned forward and upward 34 degreesabove the horizontal . From that point on during orbi ta lf l ight , the spacecraft can be controlled in properat t i tude automatically or manually by the pi lo t .

I f a l l goes well , the Mercury spacecraft wil l beinserted into orbi t in the vic ini ty of Bermuda. By thattime the.vehicle wil l be a t an al t i tude of apprOximately100 miles and t ravel ing at a speed of about 17,500 milesper hour. At engine cut-off the craf t will have beensubjected to more than 7! "afr. Reentry "Gil wil l alsoreach 7!.A three-orbi t f l ight wil l la s t approximately 4 3/4hours; a two-orbit f l ight , 3t hours; one orbi t , 1 3/4hours. The Mercury craf t wil l reach a peak al t i tude(apogee) of about 150 s tatute miles off the West Coastof Australia and a low pOint (perigee) of 100 miles, atthe inser t ion point near Bermuda.REENTRY-- After the desired number of orbi t s ,as the spacecraft approaches the West Coast of NorthAmerica, retro or braking rockets will be f i red toin i t ia te reentry.Shortly af te r the retrorockets are f i red, the

exhausted rocket package wil l be jet t isoned and thespacecraft automatically wil l assume reentry at t i tude ."Friendship 7 1t wil l begin to encounter more denseatmosphere of the Earth approximately over the eastcoast at an al t i tude of about 55 miles. At this point ,temperatures wil l s ta r t mounting on the spacecraf t ' sablation heat shield.1-5


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On a nominal mission, peak reentry temperatureof about 3,000 degrees F. wil l occur a t 25 miles al t i tudewhile the spacecraft i s moving at nearly 15,000 miles perhour. All to ld , the craf t wil l sustain temperatures inth is neighborhood for about two minutes.Almost coincident with the heat pulse is a dramaticreduction in capsule speed. Between 55 miles and 12 milesal t i tude - covering a distance of 760 mi1es - spacecraftvelocity should go from 17,500 miles per hour down to270 miles per hour in a l i t t l e over five minutes.At about 21,000 feet , a s ix-foot diameter drogueparachute wil l be opened to stabil ize the craf t . Atabout 10,000 feet , a 63-foot main landing parachute wil lunfurl from the neck of the craf t .On tOUChdown, the main chute wil l be je t t isoned.On-board e lec t r ica l equipment wil l be shut down, andlocation aides wil l be activated.RECOVERY - - Several new recovery techniques willbe t r ied operationally for the f i r s t time in MA-6. I fa l l ' s well , the astronaut, on leaving the craf t via theneck or the side hatch, should be greeted by two frogmenwho by that time will have cinched a new f lotat ion bel taround the base of the cra f t . This i s to add to thecra f t ' s seaworthiness.Plans cal l for the frogmen to leap into the waterwith the


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THE MA-6 M ~ R C U R Y SPACECRAFT

The MA-6 spacecraft i s similar to those used in previousMercury f l ights . About as big as a phone booth, the in ter iorlooks much l ike the cockpit of a high-performance airplane -only smaller.Here are some of the major items confronting the pilot :Instrument Panel - Instruments are located on a main ins t rument panel, a l e f t console, and a right console. The main panela l e f t console, and a r ight console. The main panel is direct lyin front of the pi lo t . Navigational and control instrumentsare located in the l e f t and center sections of the panel andthe periscope i s located in the center. The r ight section ofthe main panel i s composed of environmental system gauges andcontrols, elect r ical switches, indicators and communication

system controls.Rate Stabi l iza t ion and Control - Attitude of the Mercuryspacecraft iscfianged by the release of short bursts of super- .heated steam (hydrogen peroxide) from 18 thrust nozzles locatedon the conical and cyl indrical portions of the craft1s surface.Timing and force of these bursts are controlled by one of thefollowing: (I ) Automatic Sta.bilization and Control System (ASCS){or IIAuto-Pilot"; (2) Rate Stabi l iza t ion and Control System (RSOS),or "Rate Command" System (3) the Manual Proportional ControlSystem" a manual-mechanical system" and (4) the Fly ..By-Wire (FEW),a manual-electr ical system. ..

he l e f t console includes sequencing te le l ights and awarning panel, indicators and controls for the spacecraft ' s automatic pi lo t (ASCS), environmental control and landing systems.Altogether, there are over 100 l ights , fuses" switches andmiscellaneous controls and displays.Oameras- A 16mm camera i s insta l led to the l e f t of theastronautfs head to photograph the instrument panel display fromlaunch through recovery. A pi lo t observer camera i s mountedin the main instrument panel and wil also be operated from launchthrough recovery.Periscope ... An earth periscope i s located approximatelytwo fee t in . front of .the pi lo t and wil l provide a 360-degree viewof the horizon. The pi lo t may manually adjust fo r "1ow" or"high" magnification. On "low" he will have a view of theEarth of aoout 1,900 miles in diameter - in "high" the f ie ldof view wil l be reduced to about 80 miles. Altitude can bemeasured within plus or minus 10 nautical miles. The MercuryEarth periscope wil l , in addition" serve as a navigational aid.

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Pilot Support Couch -The astronaut 's couch i s constructedof a crushable honeycomb material bonded to a f iberglass shel land l ined with rubber padding. Each astronaut has a f l ightcouch contoured to his specific shape. The couch i s designedto support the pi lo t !s body loads during a l l phases of thef l igh t and to protect him from acceleration forces of launchand reentry.Restraint System - The res t ra in t system, which consists ofshoulder and a chest st rap, leg st raps, crotch strap, lapbel t and toe guards, i s designed to keep the astronaut inthe couch during maximum decelerat.ion.

Environmental Control System - The environmental controlsystem provides theMA-b spacecraft cabin and the astronautwith a 100-percent oxygen environment to furnish breathing,vent i lat ion, and pressurization gas required during f l ight .The system i s completely automatic, but in the event the automatic control fa i l s , emergency controls can be used.The system consists of two individual control circui ts(the cabin circui t and the sui t c i rcu i t ) , which wil l normallyoperate fo r about 28 hours. Both systems are operated simultaneously. The sui t c i rcui t is i so la ted from the cabin c i rcui tby the astronaut closing the face-plate on his helmet. Unlessthere i s a fai lure in the cabin circui t causing loss of pressure,the pi lo t ' s pressure sui t wil l not be inf la ted .Aeromedical Information - Throughout the f l ight , thephYSical well-being of the pi lo t wil l be monitored. The pi lo t ' srespirat ion rate and depth, electrocardiogr.am and-body temperature wil l be telemetered to f l ight surgeons on the ground.Pilot Communications - The M A ~ 6 astronaut may remain intouch with the ground through the use of high-frequency andul i:ra:-'l.igh-frequency radiO's, radar recovery beacons, and i fthe si tuat ion dictates , a command receiver or a telegraph codekey.Main bat tery system - Three 3,000 watt-hour bat te r ies andone 1,500 watt-hour bat tery are connected in paral le l to provide power fo r the complete mission and about a 12 hour postlanding period. A standby backup power system of 1,500 watthour capacity i s also provided. To further insure rel iable

operation of the pyrotechnic system, each device has a completely i solated power feed system.Reb-o-fire Timer - There wil l be a t imer in the MA-6spacecraft with three major separate operational components,(1) a standard a i rc ra f t elapsed time clock, (2) a nseconds

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/from launch" digi ta l indicator with a manual reset , and (3) areset table t imer and time-delay relay which wil l in i t ia te theretrograde f i re sequence. When the preset time has passed,the relay closes and actuates the retrograde f i re signal, a tthe same time sending a telemetered signal to the ground.

Altimeter - The Mercury barometer al t imeter i s a singlerevolution indicator with a range from sea level to 100,000feet . The dia l face has reference marks a t the drogue andmain parachute deployment al t i tudes.At the top r igh t corner of the main panel are located,environmental displays, providing the pi lo t with indicationsof cabin pressure, temperature, humidity, and oxygen quanti tyremaining. 'Food, Water, and, Waste storage -', 'Friendship 7" will carryabout 3,000 calories of food - beef and mixed vegatables - andabout sfx pounds of water. The water will be in two f la t

bot t les , each f i t ted with a tube. The food i s in two tubes,about the size of tooth paste tubes. In addition, there willbe some quick-energy sugar table ts .Survival Equipment - The survival package will consist ofa onman l i fe ra f t ; desalt ing ki t , shark repel lant , dye markers,f i r s t aid ki t , dis t ress Signals, a Signal mirror, portableradio, survival ra t ions, matches, a whistle, and ten feet ofnylon cord. .A new l ightweight, radar-reflective l i fe ra f t i s fabricated of Mylar (for a i r retention) and nylon ( for strength).The three-pound, four-ounce ra f t features three water bal last

budkets for f lo ta t ion s tabi l i ty and a deflatable boarding endwhich may be re inf la ted by an oral inf la t ion tube followingboarding. The ra f t , made of the same material used in theEcho sa te l l i t e balloon, i s international orange.Pi lo t ' s Map - A small cardboard diagram of the MA-6f l ight path with recovery forces indicated i s contained withina bag suspended beneath the periscope. On the reverse Side,the pi-lot 's view through the periscope from maximum alt i tudei s shown. Last minute information on cloud formations andweather phenomena will be marked by Mercury weather experts.Hatch - The MA-6 spacecraft i s equipped with a hatchsecured by explosive bol ts , jus t as the pi lo t ' s canopy i ssecured in a high performance aircraf t . The astronaut canje t t ison the hatch by pushing a plunger button inside thespacecraft or by pulling a cable. The hatch may also be re moved by recovery teams.

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Cylindrical Neck Contents - Above the astronaut 's cabin,the cylIndrIcal, neck section contains the main and reserve pal"a-chute sys tem. ' ,Three parachutes are instal led in the spacecraft. Thedrogue chute has a six-foot-diameter, conical, ribbon-type

canopy with approximately six-foot long ribbon/suspension l ines,and a 30-foot-long r iser made of dacron to minimize elast ici tyeffects during deployment of the drogue a t an al t i tude of 21,000feet . The drogue r iser is permanently attached to the capsuleantenna by a three point suspension system terminating at theantenna in three s teel cables, which are insulated in areas exposed to heat.The dr9gue parachute i s packed in a protective bag andstowed in the qrogue mortar tube on top of a l ight-weightsabot. The sabot functions as, a piston to eject the parachutepack, when pressured from below by gasses generated by apyrotechnic charge.The function of the drogue chute i s to provide a backupstabil izat ion device for the spacecraft in the event of fai lureof the Reaction Control and Stabilization System. Additionally,,the drogue chute will serve to slow the capsule to'approximately250 feet per second at the 10,000 foot al t i tude of main parachute deployment. 'The reserve chute is id"entical to the main chute. I t i sdeployed by a f la t circular-type pilot chute.other components of the landing system include drogue

motor and cartr idge, radar chaff, barostats, antenna fair,ingejector , sea marker packet, and two underwater charges - oneattached to and deployed by the antenna lanyard and the otherfixed to the spacecraft.Following escape tower separation in f l ight , the 21,000and 10,000 foot barostats are armed. No fur ther action occurs' unt i l the capsul'e descent causes. the 21,000 foot barostat toclose anda:ctivate power to the drogue mortar which ejectsthe drogue as well as the radar chaff - loosely packed underthe drogue chute - to provide a target for radar location.Two seconds af ter the 10,000 foot barostat closes, poweri s supplied to the antenna fairing ejector - located above thecylindrical neck section - to deploy the main landing parachuteand an underwater charge, which is dropped to provide anaudible sound landing point indication. The ultra-high frequency SARAH radio then begins transmitting. A can of seamarker dye i s deployed with the reserve chute and remainsattached to the spacecraft by a lanyard.

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On landing, an impact switch je t t isons the landing parachute and in i t ia tes the remaining location and recovery aids.This includes release of sea-marker dye with the reserve parachute i f it has not previously been deployed, t r iggering ahigh- intensi ty flashing l ight , extension of a l6-foot whipantenna and the in i t ia t ion of the operation of a high-frequencyradio beacon.

I f af te r landing, the spacecraft should spring a leak ori f the l i fe support system should become fouled af te r landin8,the astronaut can escape through this upper neck section orthrough the side hatch.Impact Skir t - Following deployment of the main landingparachute, the heat shield is released, extending the landingimpact bag to form a pneumatic cushion primarily for impacton land, it is also required for capsule s tab i l i ty a f te r waterlandings.The a ir cushion i s formed by.a four-foot sk i r t made ofrubberized f iberglas that connects the heat shield and theres t of the capsule. After the main parachute i s deployed, theheat shield i s released from the capsule and the bag f i l l s withair . Upon impact, a i r trapped between the heat shield and the

c ~ p s u l e i s vented through holes in the sk i r t as well as portionsof the capsule which are not completely a ir t ight , thereby providing the desired cushioning effect .

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THE ATL,AS LAUNCH VEHICLEThe launch vehicle to be used for the Mercury-Atlas 6 tes t isan Atlas D model l one of several Atlases especially modified foruse in the Merqury f l ight tes t program. This vehicle develops

360 1 000 pounds of thrust and burns Rp-ll a kerosene-like fuel land l iquid oxygen.

Principle differences in the Mercury-Atlas and the militaryversion of the vehicle include: (1) modification ofthe payloadadapter section to.accommodate the Project Mercury spacecraft ,(2) structural strengthening of the upper neck of the Atlas toprovide for the increase in aerodynamic stress imposed on theAtlas when used for Mercury missions, and (3) inclusion of anautomatic Abort Sensing and Implementation System (ASIS) designedto sense deviations in the performance of the Atlas and t r iggerthe Mercury Escape System before an impending catastrophic f a i l u r e ~The Atlas measures 65 feet from i t s base to the Merc!uryadapter section and is 10 feet in diameter at the tank section.With adapter section, spacecraft and escape tower, the M e r c u r y ~Atlas stands 93 f e e ~ t a l l .The Atlas i s constructed of thin-gage metal and maintainSstructural r igidi ty through pressurization of i t s fuel tanks eForthis f l i g h t ~ the Atlas will have a heavier gage skin at theforward end of the l iquid oxygen tank; the same as that used inother launches of Atlas space systems.All five engines are ignited a t the time of launch - thesustainer (60,000 pounds thrust) , the two booster engines (150,000

pounds thrust each) which are outboard of the sustainer a t thebase of the vehicle and two small vernier engines which are usedfor minor course corrections during powered f l ight . During thef i r s t minute of flight_ i t consumes more fuel than a commercialje t air l iner during a transcontinental run.

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ASTRONAUT PARTICIPATIONAll seven of Project Mercury1s team of astronauts willpart ic ipate in the MA-6 orbital mission, some as f l ight controllers from far-flung vantage pOints around the globe.Astronauts John H. Glenn, J r . , prime pi lot , M. Scottcarpenter, back-up pilot , and Alan B. Shepard, J r . , technicaladvisor, will be a t Cape Canaveral. Astronaut Walter M. Schirra,J r . will be stationed at the Mercury si te a t Pt. Arguello,California, and Astronaut L. Gordon Cooper ,Jr . wil l participatefrom the Mercury tracking stat ion in Muchea, Australia. AstronautVirgil I . "Gus l l Grissom will monitor launch" insertion, landing,and recovery from Mercury's Bermuda stat ion, while Donald K.Slayton will perform spacecraft checkout prior to inser t ion ofthe mission pilote

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TflE NETWORKWorld-wide Mercury Tracking Stations" including ships in theIndian and Atlantic Oceans, will monitor the MA-6 f l ight . TheSpace Computing Center of the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center inGreenbelt, Maryland, will make t ra jectory computations.During the f l ight , information will pour into the SpaceComputing Center from tracking and ground instrumentation pointsaround the globe at the rate, in some cases, of more than 1,000bits per second. Upon almost instantaneous analysis" the in formation will be relayed to the Cape for action.In addition to proving mants capability for surviving in andperforming eff iciently in space - and Since only two other f l ightshave been made along the worldwide tracking network - the t e s twill further evaluate the capability of the network to performtracking, data-gathering, and f l ight control functions.The Mercury network, because of the man factor" demands morethan any other tracking system. Mercury missions require instantaneous communication"Tracking and telemetered data must be collected, processed"and acted upon in as near "real" time as possible. The positionof the vehicle must be known continuously from the moment ofl i f t -o f f . .After injection of the Mercury spacecraft into orbitorbi ta l elements must be computed and prediction of "look fr in-.formation passed to the next tracking s i te so the stat ion can

acquire the capsule.Data on the numerous capsule systems must be sent back toEarth and presented in near actual time to observers. at variousstat ions. And during the recovery phase, Spacecraft- impactlocation predictions will have to be continuously revised andrelayed to recovery forces.An industrial team headed by western Electric Company recently turned over this $60 million global network to the NationalAeronautics and Space Administration.Other team members are Bell Telephone Laboratories, Inc.;the BendixCorporationj Burns and Roe, I n c ~ ; and InternationalBusiness Machines Corporation. At the same time, the LincolnLaboratory of Massachusetts Inst i tute of Technology also hasadvised and assisted NASA on special technical problems relatingthe network .Concluding contract involved extensive negotiations withFederal agencies, private industry, and representatives of severalforeign countries in the establishment of tracking and groundinstrumentation.


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The network consists of 18 s tat ions . The system spans threecontinents and three oceans, interconnected by a global communications network. I t ut i l izes land l ines , undersea cablesand radio circu i ts , and special communicatloDB equipment ins ta l led a t commercial switching s tat ions in both the Eastern andWestern hemispheres.The proj ect includes buildings, computer prl)g ['amming" communications and electronic eqUipment, and related supportfac i l i t i es required to direc t , monitor, and provide contactwith the nation 's orbit ing Project Mercury astronaut.Altogether, the Mercury system involves approximately60,000 route miles of communications faci l i t ies to assure anintegrated network with world-wide capabil i ty for handlingsa te l l i t e data. I t comprises 140,000 actual circui t miles -100,000 miles of teletype, 35,000 miles of telephones, and over5,000 miles of high-speed data ci rcui ts . .Sites linked across the Atlantic are! Cape Canaveral,Grand Bahama Island" Grand Turk Island, Bermuda, Grand CanaryIsland, and a specially f i t ted ship in Mld-Atlantic eOther stat ions in the continental.United States are a t pt.Arguello in Southern California; White Sands, New Mexico;Corpus Christ i , Texas; and Eglin, Florida. One stat ion i slocated on Kauai Island in Hawaii.There are two radar picket ships. The Atlantic Ship RoseKnot wil l be stationed on the equator near the West Africancoast .The Indian Ocean Ship Coastal sent?Y wil l be located midway be

tween Zanzibar and Muchea, Australla.s tat ions a t overseas s i tes include one on the south side ofGrand Canary Island, 120 miles west of the African Coast; KanJ,Nigeria, in a farming area about 700 r a i l miles inland; Z a n z l b ~ l ".an island 12 miles off the African coast in the Indian Ocean;two in Australia - one about 40 miles north in Perth, nearMuchea, and the other near Woomera; Canton Island, a small corala to l l about halfway between Hawa.ii and Australia.;; one in MeXico"near Guaymas on the shore of the Gulf of M e x ~ ~ u ; and one inBermuda, an independent, secondary control center.Some 20 private and public conununlcations agencies throughout the world provided leased land l ines and overseas radio andcable fac i l i t i es .Site faci l i . t ies include equipment for acquiring the spacecraf t ; long range radars for automatic tracking; telemetry_equipment for receiving data on the spacecraft and the astronaut; command control equipment for control l ing the manned vehicle fromthe ground, i f necessary, and voice channels for ground-to-airconununications. The extensive ground communications systeminterconnects a l l s tat ions through Goddard and the Mercury Controlat Cape Canaveral.

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Sites equipped with tracking radars have digital .data conversion and processing equipment for preparing and transmittinginformation to the computing system without manual processing,marking a signif icant achievement - global handling of data on areal-t ime basis .One function of the computer is to transmit information-regarding the spacecraft1s position to Mercury Co!).trol Center atthe Cape, where i t is displayed on the world map in the Operat ions Room. The computer also originates acquisition informat ion which i s automatically sent to the range stat ions .During every major Mercury launch, the attention of some15 NASA f l ight controllers is focused on dozens of consoles andwall displays in the Mercury; Control Center Operations Room 0This room is the control point for a l l information that willflow through the world-wide tracking and communications system.In this room NASA Flight Controllers make a l l vi ta l decisionsrequired, and issue or delegate a l l commands.In the f if ty-foot square room, about 100 types of informat ion regis ter at various times on the indicators of the consolesand the high range-status map. Of these 100 quanti t ies, 10 showbiomedical condition" approximately 30 relate to l i fe supportfaci l i t ies and about 60 give readings on spacecraft equipment.This information flows in on high-speed data circui ts fromcomputers a t the Goddard Center, on direct teletype circui ts fromremote Sites, and by booster and spacecraft telemetry relayedover readio and wire circuits .Three kinds of data s tar t pouring into the computing system

as soon as the booster l i f t s half an inch off the launch pad.;1. Radar data: Triggers the Cape Canaveral IBM 7090whieh monitors' the spacecraft 's f l ight path andpredicts i t s impact point i f the mission must beaborted.2. Guidance data: Radioed from the spacecraft to aspecial purpose computer at the Cape.3. Telemetry data: Reports check pOints, e.g." l i f t -off, booster separation.These data are transmitted from Cape Canaveral to Goddardwhere IBM 7090's compare the spacecraft t rajectory to a predetermined f l ight path -an


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COMMUNICATIONS INFORMATION;The system carries telephone, teletype and high-speed data

( l ~ O O O bi ts per second) information I t can accept a message ..from a distant s i te and deliversi t to the f inal destination -regardless of location - in a l i t t l e over one second.Radio teletype fac i l i t ies use single sideband transmitters,which are less susceptible to atmospheric interference. Allcircuits , frequencies and paths were selected only af ter a carefu l study of data accumulated over 25 years by the National

B u ~ e a u of Standards on the various propagation qual i t ies of manyradio paths. .Submarine cables to London (via New York), to Hawaii (viaSan Francisco), and to A u s t r a 1 1 a ~ (via V a n c o u v e r ~ B.C.) areinc1uded in the Mercury commull:.i.cations. network..

. The Mercury Voice Network has a twofold mission:1. Provide Mercury Control Center (MCC) with "real time"information from world-wide tracking stations hav:'ngthe orbiting Mercury spacecraft in view o2. Provide a rapid means for dealing with emergencysi tuations between lllCC a..l1d range statio:':'1.s during amission.The network is essent ia l ly a private l ine telephone syst;emradiating from GSFC to MOC and the project ' s '''1orld s i tes . .These l ines are used during an orbi t mission to exchangeverbal information more ra.pidly than can be done by teletype.Conversations are recorded both a t Goddard and Mercury ControlCenter for subsequent playback. When not used for orbi t exerCisthe circuits are uti l ized for normal communications operations.

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ABTRQNAUTTBAINIl'fG PROGRAM SUMMARYHere are some of the general training act1vi.ties that

t h e p r o j e c t M ~ r c u r y ' a s t r o n a u t s have undergone since May, 1959.1. Systems e.;nd v ~ h i c l e i'a.m11iar;Lzation ,-.,.Tl:le, seven ..astronauts were gIven lectures .fnthe vehicle sysj;elJlsoyNASA

ano several of the contracting companies.NASA'Langley .Research Center gave them a !50 ..hour c o u r s , e ~ ; l n astronaut1cs.McDonnell Aircra.f't. Corp. eng1neerStalked to the ,astronauts onMeroury s u b s ~ $ t e m s . Leo;tures. were' given t:o the astronauts byDr. William K. Douglas onaeromedioal pro:blem's of spaceflight.At the Navy centrifuge in Johnsville, Pa., the astronautsflew the Mercury acceleration profiles. At several Ail:' Foroebases they flew bl:'iefzel:'0-grav1ty flight paths.. CheCKoutsof the Mel:'cury environmental syst.em and the pressure suit wereaccomp11shed at the Navy Air Crew Equipment LaboratoX7 in .Ph1ladelphia. At the Naval Medical Research Inst1tute theybecame familiar with the physiological effeotsot highC02oontent in the environment . The Army Ballist1c MissileDivision and i ts associatedcontractol:'s indoctrinated them onthe Redstone. The Air Foroe Space Systems Div1sion and itDassooiated contractors told t h ~ astronauts e.bout the Atlaolaunohvehicle. .2. S t a l : ' r e C o ~ n i t t O n - Each astronaut periodioallyreoeived oonoentra ed person'al instruotiono,n th,e, el"ementa oroelestial navigation ant! on stllr reoognit1on at jthe MorehoadPlanetarium, Chapel Hill, NOl!'th Carolina. A ttta1nersimulating the cel .W view through a. spaoeo%'att windowpermitted astronaut'praotioe in c o r r e o t 1 ~ g yaw drift .3. Desert Survival - A 5idsy- oourse in desert survivaltraining was o a r r ~ e d out at the USAF Training'Command Su:t'vivalSohool at Stead Air Force Base" Nevad'a. The course oonsisted

ot survival teohniQ.ues through lectures, ~ e m o n s t r a t i o ' n s " andapplioation in a representative desert environment. 'rheMel:'oury survival kit was also evaluated during this p e ~ 1 o d .4. Egress training During Maroh and April, 1960, .open-water normal egress training was 'conducted in the Gulf'

ot Mexico off' Pensacola, FlOl"lda.. E a c h , a B t ~ o n a u t made atleast two egresses through the upper hatch (up to lO-f'ootswells were experienced). Water survival training was alsoacoomplished in August, 1960 and DE;!cember, 1961 at Langl'ey-.Each ot the astronauts made underwater egresses, some ofwhich were made in the MercuX7 pressure suit .7 .1


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5. Specialty assignments - The astronauts contributedto the Mercury development program by working directly withManned Spacecraft Center engineers and by attending NASA-McDonnell coordination meetings and booster panel meetings inthe i r special ty areas. Astronaut special ty areas are:Carpenter - Communications equipment and procedures,periscope operation, navigational aids andprocedures.Cooper

Glenn

Grissom

Schirra

Shepard

Slayton

- Redstone booster, t ra jectory aerodynamics,countdown, and f l ight procedures, .emergencyegress and rescue. .- Cockpit layout, Instrumentation; controls forspacecraft and simulation.- Reaction control system, hand control ler ,autopilot and horizon scanr0rs.- Environmental control systems, pi lo t supportand res t ra in t , pressure sui t , aeromedicalmonitoring.

Recovery systems, p a r a c h u t e s ~ rccoveF.1 aids,recovery procedures and range neti.

mercury - atlas 6 at a glance

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