little joe vi press kit

8/9/2019 Little Joe VI Press Kit

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NEWS R E L E A S ENATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION1520 H ST REET , N O R T H W E S T W A S H IN G T O N 2 5 . D. C.T E L E P H O N E S : D U D L E Y 2-632s * E X E C U T I V E 3 - 3 2 6 0

FOR RELEASE: IMMEDIATE

j ' e 4 c e c r r z f t Escape System Test - Little Joe VINo man-conceived project involving man-made mechine8can guarantee one hundred per cent reliable safe operation.But Project Mercury, the initial manned space flight re-search program, must come as close to that standard aspossible.Because ProJect Mercury involves man-made machines anda human life, a apacecraft escape syljrtem had to be devised,developed and tested.signed to carry the spacecraft and its pilot well clear of ISfaltering launch vehicle.

solid propellant rocket attached to the upper neck of thespacecraft by a asCructura1 rsteel pylon tower. An electronicbrain has been devised and built into both the Atlas andRedstone launch vehicles to aense impending malntnctions andtrigger the escape system automatici9lly.

The escape system in Mercury is de-

The Nercury escape system consists of a 60,000 pound

Once the Mercury escape system design took shape, t w t -ing began. The aolid propellant escape rocket wa8 tested instatic test stands. The entire spacecraft-escape tower con-figuration was flown in high speed wind tunnels. Finally,full scale boilerplate spacecraft with a full-scale escapesystem including the parachute landing system were launchedin off-the-pad abort flights.Early tests confirmed the design concept. Next the

ability of the escape sy$ten to do I t s job during the jolt-ing early stages of' the launch aboard an Atlas had to b econfirmed in flight. During the early portion of the A t l a s


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E L W C ~ ~he atlgoespheric a i r loads on the outer wall ofthe c r a f t are extremely high -- almost one thousandpounds per square foot of area.Mercury program and a t minimum expense, a new solid pro-pel lan t rocket was conceived by NASA engineern.L i t t l e Joe, t h e rooket consists of eight so l id rocketmotors clust ere d in si de a s t a in l e s s s t e e l c y l in d e r ,Large f i n s are a t tached t o the base of th e rocket air-frame t o provide s t a b i l i t y during f l i g h t .

Ful l -sca le boi lerp la te vers ions o f the Mercuryc ra f t f a b r i c a t e d by NASA's Langley Research Center wereused I n the early research and development Little! Joef l igh t s ,

To re cr ea te thes e f l i g h t conditions early I n theCalXed

Qht t l e Joe I launched October 4, 1959 q u a l i f i e dthe eight-motor launch veh icl e w i t h a full-scale space-c r e f t ,W t t l e Joe I1 launched November 4, 1959 s e n t caboilerplate rilpacecraft up on a n abor t under extremelyhigh a i r loads,b i t t l e Joe I11 launched December 4, 1959, was asuccessf'ul test of the escape system a t high a l t i t u d e ,The spacecraft, on t h i s t e s t c a r r i e d zi, Rhesus monkeythrough some three minutes o f weight less f l ight andlanding without physical damage.L i t t l e Joe IV launched January 21, 1960, wasanother high air load elircape te a t ,carried a small Rhesus monkey through the succesrarhxlThis spacecraf t a lsof l igh t .F l i g h t t e s t o f production spaceoraft with pro-duction escape sytstems began on November 8, 1960, withthe launch of Li t t l e Joe V.to qualif 'y productlon l i n e spacecraf t and the escapesystem during and af te r a n escape maneuver representingthe most severe condition8 that can be expecbed duringan Atlas launch for orbital f l i g h t ,

The purpose of the t e s t was

These conditions exis t a t a n a l t i t u d e o f about35,000 f e e t where th e combined forces of vehicle velocityand atmospheric density exert ma x i m um dynamic load8 or- 2 -


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squeezing on the spacecraft,maneuver was t o be i l n i t i t a t ed by a signal which would(1) open the clamp r i n g holding the c r a f t t o i t s launchvehicle, and (2) would open circuits supplying power t oggnite the escape rocket, The escape system would thenseparate the craft from the launch vehicle by 150 f s b tI n one seoond, Seconds l a te r , the parachute landingsystt;ern would be deployed i n a normal landing sequence,

I n Li t t l e Joe V th e f l i g h t went nomally forabout 15 seaonds, A t t h i s p o i n t the escape rock& -ignited but the c r a f t and the ent i re escape system re-aained attached t o the Li t t l e Joe u n t i l impact gome 18miles from the launch s i t e ,Although t e a t obj ec tives were not achieved, thet a s t did provide useful infomation, An analysis based

on records and observations indicated the premature f i r$ngof' the escape rocket was due t o Enadvertant 6geratkBn o fQ small l imit switch located in the lamp r ing holdingt he c r a f t t o th e launch veh$cle. These switches locatedbeneath the r ing sections are spring-loaded and actuatewhen r i n g pressure is removed,

Opening o f any one of thelse switches on L i t t l e JoeV would have triggered the c i r c u i t supplying power t o theesoape rocket motor. Possib ly s l ight motions of thespacecraft as i$passed through the dense atmo-aphsre ofearly f l i g h t may have permitted one of thePse switchser t oaotuater,apglidatlon t o the escape motor circuit until a t leasttwo swithhes have actuated,

The L i t t l e Joe incident drew immediate a t t e n t i o nt o the vital Mercury elscglpe aystemosrFattention res ul t-ing in an overall review of the system and a dksignchange directed towards the fur ther reduction o f p i l o tr i s k ,

A t thirs point the escape

>

A wiring change on Wlttle Joe V I prohibita power

I f $he Lit t le Joe V I t e s t is successrful i t a11provide additional confidence i n the Mercury earcagesyr tea and one more important building block I n the h a m i dof testing leading perhaps late t h i s year bo Mercurytsspec if icat ion mlssion..,.manned o rb i t a l f l i g h t ,i

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The mission f o r Lit t le Joe V I i s basically thesame as f o r Lit t le Joe V, lrrlwjor difference8 i n t h i st e a t are,,,.The spacecraft used - production szapsuleNo. 14 has a large trapezoid-shaped vieMng windowrather than two small round viewports as on thecapaule used i n Li t t l e Joe V t e s t ,I n the L i t t l e Joe V t e s t ' a f ter 25 ~ecoads 'o ff l i g h t the abort i n i t i a t i o n system was to be armed andappmfimately 10 seconds l a te r a pressure erensing devicewas t o i n i t i a t e the esoape sequenoe, Xf this pr;lmclrysystem f'cpiled a n on-board t iaring device was t o energize'relay$ i n the escape oircui t e f fec t ing the same r esu l t s ,I n the L i t t le (7oe V I t e s t an on-board tirner will aewea@ the principal abort init iation system,

rubberized a k Z r t which I s extended between the c r a f tand its heat shield when the main pmachute is ogeneaes 10,000 feet , Th i s perforated bw $erne8 as an & irculshion on landing and functions thereafter a8 a seaanchor stabil izing the craft i n i t s proper f1of;ationa tt it u d e when be &t -s hi el d emains attached,

(1)

(2 )

(.3) A landing berg consisting o f a four-foot

(4) Moaifiad emape system circluitry diacussedearlier,

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Ws si -n and Sp raft - Littl Joe VIThe forthconing Little Jde flight from WallopsIsland, is the sixth h a eries using a launch vehicleespecially designed fortbe Mercury test program,

duction U n a Mercury spacecraft to the most Severe escapeconcEtiona *hat mi-ght be expected during an abort frons anAtlas-boosted orbital launch attempt, The Mercury escapeand other system must function during and after escapeunder a combination of dynamic pressures that duplicatethe most $evere conditions that a Mercury spacecraftmight encounter 8s it leaves the Earths atmosphere,

the flight characteristics of the Mercury spacecraft inan escape maneuver.The spacecraft will be launched on a nominalflight path angle o f about 82 degrees, After about 35seaondrs o f flight a timlng device will begin the escapesequence,motor will be fired. At this point I1I(&xImum forces arebeing exerted on the spacecraft. The craft climbs to apeak altitude of about 46,000 feet about a minute afterlift-off,

%e purpose of chis fli&t is to subject a pro-

Another objective of the test is to demonstrate

A$ an altitude of about 35,000 feet the escape

Next; the escape tower w i l l be Jettisoned and 22seconds later, a drogue parachute w i l l be deployed,ThSs takes place at about 42$000 feet,about three minutes after initial launch == the mainparachute w i l l be deployed,

At 10,000 feet --

The total time elapsed f r o m launch to 1and;tng isexpected to be about eight and one-half llninutes.i p 1 little or no wind, and the flight path land performanceof the escape tsystems are normal, the spacecraft willland about six statute miles from the launch site,

Instrumentation for the Mercury spacecraft for theLittle Joe VI flight includes telemetry, on-board tapereoordcsrs, radw tracking and ground and airbopne c~~mera8.The Spacecraft telemetry systemhas provisions for trans-Wtting 90 quantities of commutated infometion,

If there

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The Isixth of i t sMcarcury f l i gt l e Joe booeter used i n t h i s t e s t i s thei n d t o be launched i n NASAIs Project$est progrdun.

This vehicle i s normally made up of four s o l i dpropellant Oastor rocke'ts and four smaller Recruitrockets clustered wi t h i n the airframe.and w i l l carry ballast rather than propellant,For t h i s tes t , two of the Castors are dummies

The Li t t l e Joe launch vehicle i n combinationwith the Mercury spacecraft weighs approxlmately40,000 pounds a t launch and measures about 25 fee t i nlen gth without the space craft^.diameter."

vehicle; tha t is , all roqkets will be i nited a t launch.The booster i s expected to l i f t to an aIi tude of@pproxlmataly35,000 feet before th e spacecraft i smparrated i n the escape maneuver.s tabi l ized by four large t a i l fins,

I t i s about 6-$ feet i nThis W t t l e Joe w i l l be used as a single stage

The L l t t l e Joe vehicle i s unguided and i sConceived by engineeris of the NASA LangleyResearch Center early i n 1958, the Li t t l e Joe boosterprovided a re la ti ve ly simple,and inexpensive launch veh iclefor vital Mercury reaaarch and developnent teats,much ex is ti ng of f- the -shelf equipment, Li t t l e Joe requires(3. tninlmm o f ground support equipment, All f ou r of theearly launches were auccessfW and the Li t t le Joe boos;terI tself operated properly on the f i f t h ,

Bering

Recovery OperationsThe Mercury spacecraft, i t s escape tower and para-chute components will be retrieved by a reooverg forceoperat ing under the cornand o f R e a r Admiral P. V. H. Hilles,CQInmtlnde??,U, S. Navy Destroyer F l o t i l l a Pow, based a t

Norfolk, Va. Units of' the U, S, Navy Service Force anaFleet Marine Porce w i l l be eaployed i n the Li t t l e Joe VItes t . - 6.-


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The a i r r e c o v er y e l em e n t s c o n s i s t of three marineHUS h e l i c o p t e r s from Marine A i r c r a f t Group 26 which i scommanded by Colonel Paul T , J o h n s t o n , USMC, U n i t s ofM a r i n e A i r c r a f t Group 26 have been employed i n p r e v i o u sL i t t l e J o e f l i g h t t e s t s from Wallops i n c l u d i n g r e co v e ryo f t h e L i t t l e J o e f l i g h t w h i c h c a r r i e d Miss Sam, theRhesus monkey ,

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little joe vi press kit

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