little joe v press kit 110160

8/9/2019 Little Joe v Press Kit 110160

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A L L MATERIAL I N THIS PRESS K I T I S PROVIDED ON A HOLD-FOR-LAUNCH BASIS

L I T T U J O E FIVE PRESS KITNovember 1, 1960

1.2, Mission, Sp acec raft , launch ve hi cl e and recovery force

L i t t l e Joe Five Prelaunch N e w s Media Br ie f ingf a c t s h e et

3.. Space Task Group Background4. Project Mercury Background5 Photographs

Alfred P . AlibrandoL i t t l e Joe Five Information Manager

Gene HortonL i t t l e Joe Five Information Projea t O f f i c e r

P


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NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATIONWASHINGTON 25 , D. C.

PROJECT MERCURY BACKGROUNDPi-osect ?.lci-cuPy, he initial manned space flight program of the~ < ~ > I o r m leiqonaut.i.(:c and Space Administration, had its beginning inOc'Lohzr of 1958.The purpose of Project Mercury is t o investigate man's capabilitiin the space environment. Immediate technical objectives includeuriinhabitcd, animal inhabited, and manned suborbital ballistic flightspr,:paratoryto manned earth-orbital flights.The prime contract for developing the Mercury spacrcraft wasawax-(led McDonnell Aircraft Company of St. Louis, Missouri, three-snd-a-half months following initiation of the project. Space TaskCtrol!r,, the special management element of the Goddard Space FlightCenter exercising supervision and technical direction of ProjectMercury, works closely with McDonnell and has succeeded incompressing development time in an unprecedented manner.

and most reliable technical approach would be used, (b) newdevelopments would be kept to a minimum and (c) the flight testprogram would be based on a progressive buildup of tests.In the initial planning, it was decided (a) that the simplest

Management adopted a philosophy of simultaneous research,design, manufacture, training, and test which reduced systemsdevelopment time and permitted the successful test flight of aproduction version Mercury spacecraft less than a year and ahalf following award of the McDonnell contract.In further demonstration of the effectiveness of the "con-currency" concept it is anticipated that orbital flight will beachieved within three years of initiation of the Mercury program.It is significant that development of comparably complex missilesystems and high performance aircraft generally requires fromfive to ten years.

SPACECRAFT SYSTEMSThe Mercury spacecraft is designed to withstand any knowncorcbination of acceleration, heat and aerodynamic loads thatr . - ! i s h t occur during boost or reentry, as well as land or water landing.


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- 2 -The craft has an extremely blunt leading face covered withberyllium heat shield. Its on-board systems include: environmental

descent from orbit, an escape device which provides complete escapecapability during the boosted portion of flight, communications,landing system, and recovery aids,

. (life support) and attitude controls, retrorockets to initiate

TESTS TO DATEAs in the case of new research aircraft, orbital flight of themanned spacecraft will be attempted only after extensive vehicletesting.

qualification flight testing, as well as astronaut training. Inaddition t o numerous wind-tunnel and air drop tests, the followingrocket-boosted Mercury test flights of Research and Developmentmodels have provided a wealth of information:t o test the structural integrity and heating of a research model ofthe Mercury spacecraft boosted by an Atlas.

Little Joe I -- October 4, 1959 -- From NASA's Wallops Station,Va., to test integration of booster and spacecraft, utilizing a250,000-pound thrust booster vehicle consisting of eight solid rockets.Little Joe I1 -- November 4, 1959 -- From Wallops Station, toevaluate critical low-altitude a b o r t conditions.

Project Mercury includes ground testing, development and

Big Joe -- September 9, 1959 -- From the Atlantic Missile Range,

Little Joe I11 -- December 4, 1959 -- From Wallops Station, tocheck performance of the escape system at high altitude.monkey Sam was aboard.check escape system under high airloads.was aboard.

RhesusLittle Joe IV -- January 21, 1960 ----From allops Station, toRhesus monkey Miss SamIn addition, two production versions, built by McDonnell Air-May 9, 1959, a McDonnell-built spacecraft underwent a test of

craft Company, have been test flown.

its escape system in an off-the-pad abort situation.conducted at Wallops- Station and only the craft and its escaperocket system were used,a t Cape Canaveral, Florida, utilizing an Atlas booster. The purposeof the test was to qualify the spacecraft under maximum airloadsand afterbody heating during reentry.attainment of flight objectives.

This test was

July 29, 1960, a Mercury spacecraft test flight was conducted

A system manfunction prevented


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NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMlNlSTRATlONW A W N O T O N 25, D.C.

SPACE TASK GROUP FACT SHEETI. BACKGROUND

The Space Task Group, a unit sf the National Aeronautics andSpace Adminlstrationts Ooddard Space Plight Center, is located atLangley Field, Virginia. The group c m e into existence In theFall of 1958 with dspecBfic responsibility for putting a mannedsatellite i n t o orbit with subsequent safe recovery to lnveatigateman's capabilities in a space environment, During the yearpreceding formation of the task group, several members of theNASA. Langley Research Center staff had conducted experimental andtheoretical studies i n t ~ roblems of manned space flight,

Dr. T. Keith Glenwan, NASA Administrator, ordered that thetask group be organized, and %he Uacg%eyCenter released a numberof scientists $0 the group. These men formed i % a nucSbeue.

Asears of the work with in the Pneering Dl.v is l sn are designengineering, specification&, contract negotiation, and contractmonitoring.Con&lxauous informational and operational liaison is maintainedwith the Defense Department.


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- 2 -111, FACILITIES AVAILABLE TO IMPLEMENT PROGRAM

The Space Task Group is calling on facilities of the NASA, the'Armed Services, universities, and industry in the Project MercuryProgramNASA centers in aerodynamics, structures, guidmce, stability andcontrol, and flight support.with Project Mercury is also providing the technical and managerialbase upon which future manned space flight programs may be built.high acceleration and deceleration are being furnished by theDepartment of Defense,

it for its flight.Missouri, was selected as prime contractor for the spacecraft inJanuary 1959,

Much basic and developmental research is being conducted atThe work of this group in connection

Human factors facilities in such fields as weightlessness and

Industrial resources w i l l fabricate the spacecraft and equipThe McDonnell Aircraft Cnrporation of St, Louis,

IV. FUTURE PROJECTSProJect Mercury I s a basic steppingstone In development ofmanned space exploration technSques.without precedent, no time schedule can be given for accomplishingthe required developmental programs.orbital flight will be followed by research to refine performance,much the same as is done in aircraft research.

Because the project isLogically, man's initial

As man's capabilities In space are determined, it is expectedthat the program will extend in the future to sending three men onc1r.cumlunar and earth-orbiting flights (Project Apollo)

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NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATIONWASUIWOTON IS. 0. C.

RELEASE NO, 60-294-3NOTE TO EDITORS:

PROJECT MERCURYLittle Joe Five Flight TestPrelaunch News Media BriefingI. Introduction and Ground Rules

This briefing I s being conducted to help you make plans to covera Little Joe flight test of a production version Mercury spacecraftto be conducted within the next 48 hours. The information being givento you at this briefing is "off-the-record" and not for publication.11, The Event

(See other items in press kit.)111. Logistics

News media representatives will not be invited to witness thelaunch from Wallops Station. Howevel?, appropriate launch phaseannouncements will be made s.lmultaneously at NASA OPI, Washington,Wallops Station, and Space Task Group Headquarters, Langley Field.You will note that all material in the kit is marked "Hold forRelease Until Launch." The kit includes several prelaunch picturesof the ProJect Mercury sspacecraft &nd the preparations for thistest.to the TV and newsreel p0ol representatives in Washington.

A background information press kit is now being distributed.

A five-minute TV clip has already been prepared and delivered *

One black and white still photograph. of the actual launch willbe procesaed at Wallops Station on an expedited basis for generalnews release at Wallops Station, NASA O B I , Washington, and SpaceTask Group Headquarters, Langley Fie ld , Virginia.may be made approximately 3.5 minutes after the launching,If data is available, a preliminary t e s t result statement

There will be no postflight press conference,


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NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATIONWASHINOTON 25 , 0 . C.

. RELEASE N O , 60-294-4

MISSION AND SPACECRAFTThe forthcoming L i t t l e Joe f l ight from Wallops Is land, V a . ,i s t h e f i f t h and l a s t i n a s e r i e s u s i n g a boos te r sys tem espec ia l lydesigned for the Mercury t e s t program.

The purpose of t h i s f l i g h t i s t o s u b je c t a produc t ion- l ineMercury spacecraft t o t h e most severe condi t ions that m i g h t b eexpected i n an abo rt on an Atlas-boosted o r b i t a l launch.escape and other systems must function during and a f t e r escape undera combination of dynamic pressures t h a t very near ly dupl ica te th e mostsevere condi t ions t h a t a Mercury s pa ce cr af t might encounter as i tleaves th e e a r t h ' s atmosphere.

The Mercury

Another obj ect iv e of t he t e s t i s to demons:$rate t h e f l i g h tc h a r a c t e r i s t i c s of t h e Mercury sp ac ec ra ft i n an escape maneuver,

The spacec ra f t w i l l b e launched on a nominal f l i g h t p a th angleAfte r about 35 seconds of f l i g h t , a pressure -f about 83 degrees.

sensing device w i l l begin t h e escape sequence.about 35,000 f ee t , the escape motor w i l l be f i r e d .maximum fo rce s are exerted on t h e spacec ra f t . The spacec ra f tg l i d e s t o a peak a l t i t ude o f abou t 48,000 f e e t about a minutea f t e r l i f t - o f f . ,

Next, t h e escape tower w i l l b e j e t t i s o n e d and 22 seconds l a t e r ,

A t an a l t i t u d e ofA t t h i s po in t

a drogue parachute w i l l be deployed.42,000 f e e t .

T h i s takes p lace a t aboutA t 10,000 f e e t -- ab ou t t h r e e m inutes a f t e r i n i t i a l

launch - - t h e main parachute w i l l b e opened.

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- 2 -The total time elapsed from launch to landing is expected to be

about eight and a half minutes, If there is little or no wind, andthe flight path and performance of the escape systems are normal,the spacecraft will land about seven and a half statute miles fromthe launch site.

Instrumentation for the Mercury spacecraft f o r the Little JoeFive flight includes telemetry, onboard tape recorders, onboardcameras, radar tracking, ground and airborne tracking cameras, anda microphone and amplifier for sound level pickup. The spacecrafttelemetry system has provisions for transmitting 90 quantities ofcommutated information over one channel and three channels forcontinuous flow of information.

Test director for Little Joe Five is R. T. Dufy and ProjectManagers are William M, Poland, Jr. and Leo T. Chauvin. Spacecraftand project engineer is Lewis R , Fisher.LAUNCH VEHICLE

The Little Joe booster used in today's test is the fifth ofits kind to be launched in the NASA's Project Mercury flight testprogram.

This vehicle is normally made up of four solid-propellantCastor rockets and four small Recruit rockets clustered withinan airframe. However, for this test, two of the Castors have notbeen included and ballast will be carried in their place,

The Little Joe boost vehicle, in combination with the Mercuryspacecraft, weighs approximately 40,000 pounds at launch and measuresabout 25 feet in length without the spacecraft. It is about sixand one-half feet in diameter.


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- 3 -Total thrust of the booster used in todayss test is 25O,OOO

pounds. This Little Joe will be used as a single-stage vehicle,. that is, all rockets will be ignited at launch. The booster is

expected to lift to an altitude of approximately 35,000 feet beforethe spacecraft is to be separated.

The booster is unguided and is stabilized by four large tailfins

The Little Joe airframe was manufactured by North AmericanAviation and the rockets were produced by Thiokol Chemical Corporation

The Little Joe booster system was conceived by engineers andscientists of the Langley Research Center early in 1958, just priorto the establishment of the National Aeronautics and Space-Administration.

Langley scientists and engineers, realizing that manned spaceflight development would require a relatively simple and inexpensivelaunch vehicle for research and development tests, came up with theLittle Joe concept. It was designed specifically for Mercury space-craft research and development.

The system, using much existing proven equipment, requiredminimum ground support and turned out to be extremely reliable,A l l f o u r previous launches were successful.RECOVERY FORCE

The Mercury spacecraft escape tower, and parachute componentsused in Project Mercury t e s t Little Joe Five, will be retrieved bya recovery force reporting to Rear Admiral F. V. H. Hilles,consisting of units of the Service Force and the Fleet MarineForce

. . . .


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- 4 -The on-scene officer in tactical command of the recovery-units

for Little Joe Five is LCDR Thomas F. Byrnes, Jr., commanding officerof the USS Opportune - ARS-111. The Opportune, a Navy salvage andrescue vessel, participated in earlier Little Joe tests.-

The air recovery element consists of three Marine HUS helicoptersfrom Marine Aircraft Group 26, which is commanded by Col Paul T.Johnston, USMC, Units of Marine Aircraft Group 26 recovered theLittle Joe 1B boiler plate capsule which carried "Miss Sam," aRhesus monkey. $

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NEWS R E L E A S ENATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION1 5 2 0 H S TR E E T . N O R T H W E S T W A S H I N G T O N 2 5 . D . C .T E L E PH O N E S : D U D LE Y 2 - 6 3 2 5 . E X EC U T IV E 3 - 3 2 6 0

FOR RELEASE: November 8, 1960RELEASE NO. 60-294 10:b a.m.

A Project Mercury spacecraft launched at 10~18 .m. EST todaydid not separate from its Little Joe booster. The solid propellantbooster reached an altitude of 53,000 feet in a test to demonstratestructural integrity of the spacecraft.

The booster and spacecraft fell into the Atlantic 1 3 milesfrom Wallops Station, Va, Technicians are studying the cause ofthe malfunction which prevented separation.

An attempt is being made t o recover the spacecraft.

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little joe v press kit 110160

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