mr-1a press kit

8/9/2019 MR-1A Press Kit

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NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATIONWASW1NOTON 25, 0 . C.RELEASE ' NO . 60-322-1 HOLD FOR RELEASEUNTIL LAUNCmD

MR-1 FLIGHT TEST PROFILE

Purpose of the Mercury-Redstone series is to qualify aproduction spacecraft with its many interrelated systems in aspace environment. Later Redstone flights will be used to train theastronauts f o r orbital missions by subjecting them to rocket-boostedflight and periods of weightlessness.

These broad objectives of the Mercury-Redstone series aregenerally understood by the public -- perhaps so well understoodthat the technical hurdles inherent in such a development programmay be obscured or at least minimized to an unrealistic degree.For example, take the several attempts at launching the firstMercury-Redstone.

On November 7, 1960, a Mercury-Redstone attempt was "scrubbed"22 minutes before launch time. Reason: A valve in the spacecraft'sreaction control jet system, which controls the attitude of thespacecraft in flight, was not functioning properly. Within a fewdays, the trouble had been remedied.

In another attempt two weeks later, the countdown proceededwith a minimum of delay. Then, milliseconds after ignition, thebooster rose about an inch off the pad and shut itself down.Whereupon the escape rocket and tower-jettison rocket atop thespacecraft, acting on the booster cutoff signal, ignited and carried

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the escape tower structure off the capsule just as they would havedone following normal booster cutoff at some 35 miles altitude.(See Mercury-Redstione Press Conference of November 25, 1960 , atNASA, Washington,deployed as they are designed to do when their controls sensethick atmosphere.

Immediately, the spacecraft s parachutes were

In other words, the spacecraft did exactly what it was builtto do under the circumstances.cutoff?

But what about the premature engine

The trouble was traced to a plug which grounds the boosterThe plug had disengaged a fraction of a second toolectrically.

soon. Thedown. Theconnection

Redstone engine sensed something was wrong and shut itselfsolution? A relatively simple one: Make the groundcable a few inches longer to insure that it disengages

last in sequence with several other pad-to-booster connectidns.Another change in the MR-1 system grew out of the November 21

experience. In todays flight;, a timer device has been interposedbetween the engine and the escape-tower jettison rockets t o preventa similar engine cutoff signal getting through to the tower untilthe booster has neared the end of its normal burning time. However,the circuitry is such that an abort -- wherein the escape rocketwould pull the spacecraft free of the booster in case of boostermalfunction -- can be commanded from the ground by pushing aMayday button.

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- 3 -The booster in the November 21 attempt suffered some slight

damage and has been replaced in today's test. The spacecraft,houlever, is the same one, refitted with a new tower and parachutes.

These, then, are the sorbof problems that crop up in a complexdevelopment program like Mercury -- the M n d of "de-bugging"necessary in every new piece of machinery and the reason why anumber of Redstone, Little Joe and Atlas-boosted flight tests werebuilt into the Mercury test program.

In today's test, the spacecraft will not be manned, nor will itcontain any animals o r biological specimens.The blue-gray craft, which wefghs about 1 ton, is t o follow aballistic arc peaking at approximately 130 statute miles and splashingabout 220 statute miles downrange in roughly 16 minutes.the cone-shaped spacecraft should be moving at a speed of a littleover 4,000 statute miles an hour.

At burnout,

The flight is to provide 6g acceleration during the boostphase, about 5* minutes of zero g (weightlessness) after boosterand spacecraft are separated and as much as an llg decelerationduring reentry.

In rapid sequence at 35 miles altitude about 140 seconds afterlift-off, (1) the booster burns out; (2 ) the escape tower jettisonsand (3) three posigrade rockets at the base of the spacecraft willbe fired to push the craft ahead and away from the booster,

Immediately following separation, an automatic stabilizationand control system (ASCS) removes any irregular spacecraft motionswhich might result from the separation action. The control system

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- 4 -will steady the capsule's attitude by releasing puises of hydrogenperoxide gas through jets at the neck and base of the craft.

About 5 seconds after separation, ASCS will swing the space-craft around t o the normal heat-shield-forward position.

As the craft nears the peak of its arcing flight, reactioncontrol jets will shove the blunt face up 3 5 O above the horizontalplane. Then as the craft hits peak altitude, 3 retrorockets attachedto the heat shield will be fired in rapid succession,

Firing in the direction of flight, the retros in an orbitalflight would act as brakes, slowing the spacecraft slightly andthus letting gravity assert itself, pulling the craft back towardearth. It should be emphasized that while the retros are notneeded to perform Mercury-Redstone missions, they will be exercised

-as a part of the over-all systems qualification program.

After the retropackage is fired, it will be jettisoned fromthe base of the heat shield and ASCS will orient the craft in aheat-shield-down position for the plunge back to earth, As thecraft encounters atmospheric friction at roughly 50 to 45 milesaltitude, ASCS will work to correct any spacecraft oscillationsor pendulum motions which might begin during reentry, The controlsystem also will start the craft turning on its vertical axis ina slow top-like motion to reduce landing point dispersions,

At 21,000 feet, a pressure-sensitive switch will deploy a6-foot-wide drogue parachute which is to help curb t h e speed ofthe spacecraft which by this point should be moving at somethinglike 250 miles an hour. Then at 10,000 feet, the antenna canister


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- 5 -a t o p t h e c a ps u le w i l l be mor ta red o f f , un fu r l ing a 63-footrwidemain chu te, Simultaneously, radar chaff w i l l be s c a t t e r e d t o a i dradar t r a ck ing , a radio beacon w i l l be ac t iva t ed , and an exp los ived e vi c e c a l l e d a SOFAR bomb, s e t t o explode 2,500 f e e t underwater,w i l l be re leased.

Upon touchdown, a s w i t c h j e t t i s o n s t h e chute t o avoid draggingt h e s p a c ec r a f t i n t h e wind, a h i g h i n t e n s i t y l i g h t s t a r t s f l a s h i n g ,and sea-marking dye spr ead s around t h e s p a c e c r a f t .

The conic c r a f t measures 6 f e e t a c r o s s i t s blunt base ands t a n d s 9 f e e t h i g h . With escape tower i n p l a c e, t h e o v e r - a l l l e n g t hfrom t h e base of the hea t s h i e l d t o t h e t i p of the t o w e r ' s aero-dynamic s p i k e i s 24* f e e t .

Mounted on t o p of t h e metal escape tower i s a so l id -p rope l l an tescape rocket w i t h th ree nozzles pointed down and away from t h espacec ra f t . In an o ff - the-pad abor t s i t ua t i on , t h i s rocket canp u l l t h e s p a c e c r a f t o f f t h e boos te r and put 250 feet between t h etwo i n 1 second. The peak of such an escape maneuver i s about2,600 fee t , fo l lowed by t h e n o rm a l landing sequence by parachute .Should t roub le develop i n th e boos te r dur ing the boost phase, t h eescape maneuver i s e s s e n t i a l l y t h e same, however, th e se pa ra t i ond i s t a n c e w i t h i n 1 second may be as l ow a s 125 f e e t i n s t e a d o f 250i 'eet

I n t h i s , as i n a l l Mercury-Redstone and Mercury-Atlas flights,t h e booster i s equipped w i t h a n a b o r t sensing mechanism. I n t h i sMercury-Redstone t e s t f l i g h t , however, the abo r t sens ing system w i l lr ide "open loop," That i s , i t w i l l be wired t o s en se t r o u b le i n th e

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- 6 -booster but it wlll not be able to automatically tpigger the escaperocket as in later flights.loop" basis is t o let engineers monitor its operation very closelyin this first test of the Redstone system; in later flights it willbe set to trigger the escape rocket automatically, should animpending launch vehicle failure be indicated.

The reason for having it on an "open

In this test, an escape or "Mayday" command can be initiated bythe launch director in the blockhouse, the Range Safety Officer inAMR Central Control or by the flight director in Merccry ControlCenter.

Within the double-walled nickel-alloy spacecraft shell is apresurfzed cabin, flight instrument panel, several cameras, recoveryaids, communications equipment and devices to monitor capsule andsystem stress and performance.

The communication system for MR-1 includes two telemetry trans-mitters which are completely redundant, each providing fourchannels to send information back to ground stations. S ix ofthese channels will transmit continuous spacecraft attitudeinformation -- pitch, roll and yaw, the three axial motions possiblein such a craft. The other two channels will send data measurementsf r om 90 different points throughout the spacecraft monitoringstructural heating, cabin temperatures, pressures, noise andvibration. In addition, onboard recorders will record all thisinformation for postflight analysis. The spacecraft also isequipped with two separate command receivers, either of which iscapable of (1) signaling an abort or ( 2 ) firing the retrorockets.


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- 7 -Additional communications include two 'radar tiaacking beacons

which will be used as the primary tracking means for position-fixingduring flight and a UHF recovery beacon which will go into operationduring parachute descent and can run for approximately 12 hours afterlanding.

Powering these and other electronic systems will be silver-zincbatteries.

The blunt end of spacecraft in this flight will be protectedfrom reentry heat by a beryllium shield.ablative plastic shield to be used in later Atlas-boosted flights.In the Atlas flights, the shield will be subjected to temperaturesof around 3,000' F. In the Redstone flights, however, heat shieldtemperatures are relatively insignificant due to the greatly reducedspacecraft speed:for the Redstone.

This differs from the

17,400mph for Atlas flights against 4,000 rnph

A 16-ITU~amera, installed to the left of where the pilot'shead would be, will record the functions of the cockpit instrumentdisplay panel. There will be no astronaut couch in this capsule.In its place will ride extra instrument boxes and ballast weights.

Over-all control for the MR-1 test will be exercised by theMercury Operations Director in the Mercury Control Center.Detailed flight control will be the responsibility of the FlightDirector and a staff of flight controllers operating from consolesin Mercury Control Center.


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NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATIONRELEASE NO. 60-322 -2 WASMINOTON 25. 0 . c. HOLD FOR RELEASEUNTIL LAUNCHED

SPACE TASK GROUP FACT SHEETI. BACKGROUND

The Space Task Group, a unit of the National Aeronautics andSpace Administration's Goddard Space Flight Center, is located atLangley F i e l d , Virginia. The group came into existence in the Fallof 1958 with specific responsibility for putting a manned satelliteinto orbit with subsequent safe recovery to investigate man'scapabilities in a space environment. During the year precedingformation of the task group, several members of the NASA LangleyResearch Center staff had conducted experimental and theoreticalstudies into problems of manned space flight.

Dr. T. Keith Qlennan, NASA Administrator, ordered that the taskgroup be organized, and the Langley Center released a number ofscientists to the group. These men formed its nucleus.

11. ORGANIZATIONThe group is headed by a Project Director, Robert R. Gilruth,

who was an Assistant Director of the Langley Research Center beforehe was appointed to his present post, Associate Project Directorf o r Research and Development is Charles J. Donlan. Mr. Walter C.Williams is Associate Director for Operations and acts as OperationsDirector during flight tests.

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Chief of the Operations Division is Charles W, Mathew. MaximeA. Faget heads the Flight Systems Division, James A, Chamberlin isChief of the Engineering Division,

Scope of the Operations Division includes launching, flightoperations, recovery, ground support, and developmental testing.

The Flight Systems Division work involves heat shielding, structurenavigation, rocket boosters, escape, life support, and systems integratio

Areas of the work within the Engineering Division are designengineering, specifications, contract negotiation, and contract monitorin

Continuous informational and operational liaison is maintained withthe Defense Department.

I11. FACILITIES AVAILABLE TO IMPUEMF,NT PROGRAMThe Space Task Group is calling on facilities of the NASA, the Arme

Services, universities, and industry in the Project Mercury Program,Much basic and developmental research is being conducted at NASA

centers in aerodynamics, structures, guidance, stability and control andflight support,is also providing the technical and managerial base upon which futuremanned space flight programs may be built.

The work of this group in connection with Project Mercur

Human factors facilities in such fields as weightlessness andhigh acceleration and deceleration are being furnished by the Departmentof Defense.

Industrial resources w i l l fabricate the spacecraft and equip itfor its flight, The McDonnell Aircraft Corporation of St, Louis,Missouri, was selected as prime contractor for the spacecraft inJanuary, 1959.

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- 3 -IV, FUTURE PROJECTS

Project Mercury is a basic steppingstone in development of mannedspace exploration bechniques, Because the project is without; precebnt,no time sohedule can be given for accomplishing the required develop-men t a l programs.followed by research t o refine performance, much the same a6 is donein aircraft research,

Logically, man's initial orbital flight will be

As man's capabilities in space are determined, it is expectedthat the program will extend in the future to sending three men oncircumlunar and earth-orbiting flights (Project Apol lo) ,


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NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATIONWASHINGTON 25 , D. C.RELEASE NO. 60-322-3 HOLD FOR RELEASEUNTIL LAUNCKED

Marshall Cen ter Co nt rib uti on : Mercury-Redstone BoosterThe Mercury-Redstone b o o s t e r used i n t o d a y ' s Project Mercury launch-

i n g was provided and launched f o r the Space Task Group by the MarshallSpace Flight Center, National Aeronautics and Space Administration,

The vehicle i s based upon t h e Amnyrs Redstone b o o st er which wasdesigned and developed by Marshall s c i e n t i s t s and te c h n ic i a ns p r i o r t ot h e i r t r a n sf e r t o NASA.a d a p t the rocke t t o t h i s s p e c i a l r o l e , w i t h major emphasis on increased

Extens ive modi f ica t ion s were i ncorpora t ed t o

r e l i a b i l i t y .record of r e l i a b l e f l i g h t i n a launching his tory which extends over t h e

The Redstone booster has already achieved a s i g n i f i c a n t

past 7 years .Changes i n th e system f o r t he Mercury mission i nclu de the e longa t ion

of t h e t ank sec t ion t o i nc rea se fue l c apac i ty , th e des ign of a new in-strument compartment and adapter section t o accommodate t h e Mercuryspacec ra f t , changes i n engine and the c o n t r o l s ystem i n t h e i n t e r e s tof s implic i ty , improved r e l i a b i l i t y and in cr ea se d performance, and t h edevelopment of a miss ion abor t system t o a s s ur e s a f e t y of t h e space-c r a f t and, on l a t e r launch ings , i t s occupant.

The Mercury-Redstone i s 83 f e e t i n h e i g h t , inc luding the space-c r a f t assembly, compared t o t h e 69 f e e t o f t h e or din ar y Redstone, Thebody of th e rock et i s 70 i n ch e s i n diameter.66, 000 pounds including t h e one-ton Mercury spacecraft.

The l i f t - o f f w e i g h t i s

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- 2 -REDSTONE MODIFICATIONS

Modif ica t ions to t h e Redstone booster include the fol lowing:A. Tank Sec t ion -- The r o c k e t ' s tank s e c t i o n was elongated by

about s ix f e e t t o i n c r e a s e t h e fue l and l iquid oxygen capac i ty . Thisw i l l a ll ow f u e l s u f f i c i e n t t o i n c r e a s e t h e burning t i m e by some20 seconds.r o le i n t h e launching of t h e e a r l y E x p l o r e r s a t e l l i t e s . That v e r s i o nof' the rocke t was known as J u p i t e r C.

$he Redstone booster was s i m i l a r l y el on ga te d f o r i t s

B. Epgine -- The eng ine used i n t oday ' s f l i g h t was of t h el a t e s t Redstone engine design (A7), modif ied for t h i s a p p l i c a t i o n ,Using alcohol and l iquid oxygen, the t h r u s t l e v e l of t h e engine Bnt h i s launching was 78,000 pounds.eng ine to a l l ow fo r th e ext ra burning t i m e . There are major i m -provements i n th e peroxide system which d r iv es the f u e l a nd l i q u i doxygen pumps and p rov ides t h rus t con t ro l . The s t a b i l i t y of theu n i t was a l s o improved, and an a n t i - f i r e hazard p r o v i s i o n was added.

C. Instrument Compartment -- A new instrument compartment

Provis ions were b u i l t i n t o t h e

(uppe r sec t io n) and spacec ra f t ad ap te r s ec t ion were des igned forthe Mercury f l i g h t s . The compartment i s a pressur ized cabin , l o -cated between th e f u e l tanks and the spacecra f t , which conta ins t h ese ns i t iv e co nt ro l system. Unlike the ordinary Redstone, this com-partment does not se pa ra te from th e boos te r a f t e r burnout; ra ther i tdescends t o t h e ea r t h a t t a ched t o t he p ropu l s ion un i t .

D. Control System -- The Mercury-Redstone, as compared t o t h eRedstone missi le , has a wel l - tes ted , l ess complex control systemwhich makes f o r a simpler and more r e l i a b l e opera t ion . The sysbem


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- 3 -uses an autopi lo t which minimizes the d r i f t during powered f l i g h t ,Carbon vanes loca ted i n th e j e t exhaust of t h e p ro p ul s i on u n i tcoupled w i t h a i r vanes are used as c o n t r o l s u r f a c e s t o main ta inp ro pe r a t t i t u d e .

E. Abort system -- The a b o r t system, developed by tfa9 MarshallCenter , se rves t o give an advance warning of a possible impendingcatas t rophic development -- an e l ec t r i c s i g n a l which cau s es t h efo l lowing ac t i ons , i n sequence: t e rmina t ion of the ta ivs t of boosters e p a r a t i o n of t h e spac ecr af t from the boos te r , and acz lva t ion of t h es p a c e c r a f t ' s escape rocket which propels t h e s p a c e c r a f t t o a d i s t a n c eof se ve ra l hundred f e e t with in 1 second. The a b o r t system sensesand i s a c t i v a t e d by such condi t ions as: u n accep t ab l e d ev i a t i o n s i nthe programed at t i tude of the rocke t , excess ive tu rn ing rates; lossof thrust, c r i t i c a l i r r e g u l a r i t i e s of t h r u s t , or loss of' e l e c t r i c a lpower. I n add i t i on t o the automatic a c t i v a t i on when such condi-t i o n s o ccu r , the escape system cou ld , i n a manned mission, be a c t i -vated by t h e p i l o t i n t h e s p acec ra f t , and man ua ll y, i n t h e l au nchi ngblockhouse and a t the NASA Mercury Con trol Center. I n today 's te,t,i t w i l l not be connected t o t h e s p a ce c r a f t ' s e scap e ro ck et ; i n s t e adi t w i l l send s i g n a l s t o g round r ece i v e r s , so t h a t i t s o p era t i o ncan be monitored.

F. In s t ru men t a t i o n -- Instruments are i n s t a l l e d i n t h e r oc ke tt o provide and te lemeter abo& 50 measurements surveying a l l a s p e c t sof boos te r behav ior dur ing f l i g h t , such as a t t i t u d e , v i b r a t i o n ,acc e le ra t i on , t empera ture , p ressure and t h r u s t l e v e l . These measure-

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- 4 -ments are i n a d d i t i o n t o t h e many channels of i n f o m a t i o n w h i c h w i l lbe telemetered from t h e s p a c e c r a f t i t s e l f dur ing f l i g h t , Severa lt r a c k i n g s i g n a l s are a l s o telemetered by t h e boos te r .RELIA33ILITP PROGRAM

S p e c i a l emp hasis on r e l i a b i l i t y has been placed i n the Mercury-Redstone program. Most of the r e l i a b i l i t y e f f o r t was cente red onnew components -- t hose which ' a re pecu l i a r t o the Mercury-Redstone,This program was conducted by the Marshall Center and the Chr ys l e rCorporation. R e l i a b i l i t y t e s t s w e r e conducted on individual com-ponen ts, subsystems and systems. Tests condi t ions inc luded excess ivev i b r a t i o n s a n d extreme temperatures. Engineers of the Chrys le rCorporat ion designed and operated a s p e c i a l "rock and rol l" t e s t devicwhich subjected the e n t i r e inst rument compartment of th e Mercury-Redstone rocke t t o environmental s tress . T h i s l a t t e r phase was de-voted pr imar i ly t o checking out th e abort system t o a s s u r e t ha t i twould pperate pro per ly on demand and could not be ac t i v at ed ac ci -d e n t a l l y .TESTING AT MARSHALL

Marshall Cente r pe r sonne l r an s t ruc tu ra l t e s t s on the newRedstone-Mercury configuration which assure the s t r u c tu r a l i n t e g r i t yof the veh ic l e . Units of the rocke t were submitted t o cons iderablyh i g h e r stresses and strains t han w i l l Se encountered i n f l i g h t .

I n a d d i t i o n t o the a cc ep ta nc e f i r i n g o f the engines, theMarshall Center i s s t a t i c f i r i n g each completed boos te r o f t h eMercury se r i e s , p r io r t o t h e i r shipment t o the launch si de . During

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- 5 -these s t a t i c f i r i n g s a d e t a i l e d measuring program gives assurance ofproper performance of th e engine. The Center also c a p t i v e - f i r e d acomplete Mercury-Redstone configuration, including a research modelof the spacec ra f t .

I n a g r u e l i n g s u r v i v a l t e s t , one of t h e Mercury-Redstone en-g i n e s was r e p e at e d l y c a p t i v e - f i r e d f o r a total dur a t io n of about15 times the normal burning t i m e of the rocket .

I n a f i n a l t e s t program, t h e Mercury sp ac ec ra ft ' which' waslaunched today was shipped t o the Marshall Cente r fo r ex t ens ivec o m p a t i b i l i t y t e s t s w i t h t h e boos te r under con t r o l l ed , l abor a to ryCondi tions. These checks includ ed e l e c t r i c a l and mechanical areas,and a *long s e r i e s of checks to exclude t h e p o s s i b i l i t ' y of r a d i ofrequency i n t e r fe re nc e between t h e spacecra f t and boos te r sys tems.This skquence of checko uts in cl ud ed a sim ul ate d countdown, laun chand f l i g h t , us ing the same checkout and f i r i n g panels whlch w i l lbe used a t Canaveral f o r the ac tu a l checkout and launch opera t ions .UROPYNAMLCS A N D TRAJECTORY

I n the bas i c de s ign of th e Mercury-Redstone vehicle, theMarshall Cente r conducted spe c i a l s tu d ie s , t h eo re t i c a l ly and bymeans of wind- tunnel models, on th e aerodynamic behavior of the newvehic le . The Cente r a l so prepared t h e t r a j e c t o r i e s t o be flown i nthe Mercury-Redstone se r i e s and ca l cu la t ed the s a f e t y c o n d i t io n sunder which the rocket cou l d be f i r e d a t t h e A t l a n t i c Missi le Range.LAUNCH AND FLIGHT SEQUENCE

The Mercury-Redstone takes off v e r t i c a l l y . D u r i n g the f i r s tf e w seconds of burning t i m e , the rocket begens to t i l t i n t o a

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- 6 -pmdetermined tra3satory.seoonds shutting down at approldmateZy 35 statute miles altitude.Shortly after outoff, thb Mercury spaceoraft is separated Prom thebooster (oomblned tank and engine seotions plus the instrument corn-RWb8nt) br the lgnltlon of explosive bolts which relea8e the eon-

The roaket engine operates f o r about 140

meting olainp r i ng .three Srairll eolid propellant roaketa on the baere of the -spdueeraft,

This I s immediately followed by the firing of

The separation oaours ad 8& altitude of about 50 statute miles.Both th;o roaket body and the spacecbafjt continue on 8eparate ballfstictrejsotorierr, The sgaoecraft a11 land at about 220htatu6e miles,hav$ngrmaehsd~snuminnm altitude of about 130- . statute rttkles.rooket body should U t &e sea some 20 miles beyond the spaaecraft.S)IwssTwuL PAR%%CIPAPIQM

The

,..: .illhmlredb o f lnd us~ri al abricators and supplier8 are bontri-

buting to the Meroury-Redstone program,IThe farst C m of the eight roelcets to be providedfor Projest

Weroury br %he Harshall Center werkvassembled at the %ebter.a l so fabrioate8 many of the cromponents; major struotural6Qmponentswere nknWadturcgd by the Reynold6 Metals Company, Sheffield, Alerbm,

MSFC

The r%MlTS$k rooketa in the series are being fum;terhed t6 &8hsllby the OhrJialer Corporation ldissile Mvision, Detroit,

Ohryeler Wrgoration also conducted a major r e l i a b i l i t y pro-gram under eontract to MSFC.

The Rookstdyne Division of North Ameriom Av&ation Corporation,Qanoga Park, California, mamrfactured the engines f o r the rockets,

Y

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- 7 -Major components of the control system were produced by the

Ford Instrument Company, Long Island City , New York, and Sperry-Farragut Company, Bristol, Tennessee, divisions of Spesry-RandCorporation.KEY PERSONNEL

Dr. Wernher von Braun, as director of the Marshall Centerp hasoverall supervision of the Center's contribution to the Merdury pso-gram, , -

Dr. J. P. Kuettner is the Center's Mercury-Redstone projectmanager and i s responsible for coordinating the efforts of the tenMarshall technical divisions in this program. PUS assistant isEarl Butler. Dr, Kuettner is also a member of the Mercury-RedstoneFlight Safety Review Board.the progect's Design Panel.

Butler serves as the coordinator f o r

Dr. Kurt #. Debus directs the NASA launch OperatiQnS Directorata part of the Marshall Center, which launched the rocket, Dr. Debusalso is chairman of the Mercury-Redstone Flight Operations Panel,composed of representatives of the NASA Space Task Group, McDonnellAircraft and Marshall. In this latter capacity he is ass is ted bymi1 PI Bertram.

The deputy director of the Aeroballistics Division, Dr, R. F.Hoelker, is a member of the Mercury-Wedstone Aeroballistics Panel.


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NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION

RELEASE NO. 60-322-4WASWINOTON 25, D. C.

HOLD FOR REmASEUNTIL LAUNCHEDRECOVERY FORCES FACT SHEET

The Mercury capsule used i n Project Mercury Test MR-1 w i l l berecovered by a Task Forceg commanded by Rear Admiral F. V, H. H i l l e s ,co ns is t i ng of u n i t s of th e Destroyer Force, Amphibious Force, NavalA i r Force, Ser vic e Force, F l e e t Marine Force, and t h e A i r ForceMissile Test Center. Admiral Hilles, Commander Destroyer FlotillaFOUR and Commander Project Mercury Recovery Force w i l l exe rc i secommand of th e Recovery Force f r om the At lan t i c Missile Range MercuryControl Center a t Cape Canaveral.

The Task Force comprises several Task Groups, each under anindividual Commander. One Task Group consists of numerous l a n dveh ic l e s and small c r a f t from t h e A i r Force Missile T e s t Center,and hel icopters of Marine Aircraft Group 26 from New River, NorthCarol ina . T h i s Task Group w i l l be under t h e command of L t . Col.Harry E. Cannon, USAF, of t h e AFMTC.

Another Task Group consists of t h e USS ESCAPE (APS-6) commandedby L t . Comdr. Richard C . Ashman.

The l a r g e s t Task Group, r esp ons ibl e f o r t h e h igh-p robab i l i t yl and ing area downrange, consists o f a t o t a l of seven s h i p s ande i g h t a i r c r a f t under t h e command of C a p t a i n C . McKellar, J r . ,Commander Destroyer Squadron FOURTEEN. He w i l l f l y his p e n n a n t ont h e USS LAWE (DD-763), commanded by Comdr. E. Le Sumrall. Other

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ships in the group are:USS POWER (DD-839),commanded by Comdr. J. H. JorgensonUSS HANK (DD-TOZ), commanded by Cmdr. M. H. OstranderUSS MURRAY (DDE-576), commanded by Comdr. R. F. MongerUSS TURNER (DDR-834), commanded by Comdr. G. E. LockeeUSS R, K. HUNTINGTON (DO-781.)~ommanded by Comdr, M. T. WilliamsUSS CASA GRANDE (LSD-l3), commanded by Comdr. J, B, Meehan(The CASA GRANDE will have embarked 3 helicopters of MarineAircraft Group 26.)The Air Recovery Element of the Task Group consists o f 4 P2V

aircraft of Pat ro l Squadron SIXTEEN based at Jacksonville, Florida,commanded by Comdr. Ralph F. Bishop, and four aircraft of the AirForce Missile Test Center.

All helicopters in the force are based at New River, NorthCarolina, as units of Marine Aircraft Group 26, which is commanded byCol, Paul T. Johnston, USMC.

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NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATIONWASWINOlON 25, O . C .

RELEASE NO, 60-322-5 HOLD FOR RELEASEUNTIL LAUNCHEDPROJECT MERCURY BACKGROUND

Project Mercury, the i n i t i a l manned space f l i g h t program of t heNational Aeronautics and Space Admi nistrat ion, had i t s beginning i nOctober of 1958.

The purpose of Project Mercury i s t o i n v e s ti g a t e ma n s capab i l -i t i e s i n the space environment.uninhabi ted, an imal i n h a b i t e d , and manned s ub o rb i ta l b a l l i s t i c f l i g h t sp r e p a r a t o r y t o manned e a r t h - o r b i t a l f l i g h t s .

Immediate t e c h n i c a l o b j e c t i v e s i n c l u de

The prime c o n t r a c t for developing t h e Mercury spacecraft w a sawarded McDonnell Aircraft Company of St. Louis, Missouri, 3* monthsf o ll ow in g i n i t i a t i o n of t h e p r o j e c t . Space Task Group, the s p e c i a lmanagement element of th e Goddard Space Fl ig ht Center exe rc is in g super-v i s i o n and t ech nic a l d i re c t io n of Pro jec t Mercury , works c lo se l y w i t hMcDonnell and has succeeded i n compressing development t i m e i n a n un-precedented man n e r .

I n t h e i n i t i a l p l a n n i n g , i t w a s decided t h a t : ( a ) th e s imple s tand most r e l i a b l e technical approach would be used, (b ) new develop-men t s would be k e p t t o a minimum and (c ) th e f l i g h t t e s t program wouldbe based on a progre s s ive bu i ldup o f t e s t s .

Management adopted a philosophy o f simultaneous researc h, design,manufacture, t r a i n i n g , a n d t e s t which reduced systems development timeand permi t t ed t h e s u c c e s s f i l t e s t f l i g h t o f a production version Mercury

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- 2 -spacecraft less than 1* years following award of the McDonnell contract,

In mrther demonstration of the effectiveness of the "concurrency"concept barring unforeseen technical problems, it is anticipated thatorbital flight will be achieved within 3 years of initiation of theMercury program. It is significant that development of comparablycomplex missile systems and high performance aircraft generally requiresconsiderably longer lead times,

SPACECRAFT SYSTEMSThe Mercury spacecraft is designed to withstand any known com-

bination of acceleration, heat and aerodynamic loads that might occurduring boost o r reentry, as well as land or water landing.

The craft has an extremely blunt leading face covered with aberyllium heat shield. Its onboard systems include: environmental(life support) and attitude controls, retrorockets to initiate descentfrom orbit, an escape device which provides complete escape capabilityduring the boosted portion of flight, communications, landing system,and recovery aids.

TESTS TO DATEA s in the case of new research aircraft, orbital flight of the

manned spacecraft will be attempted only after extensive vehicle testing,Project Mercury included ground testing, development and quali-

fication flight testing, as well as astronaut training, In addition tonumerous wind-tunnel and air drop tests, the following rocket-boostedMercury test flights of Research and Development models have provideda wealth of information:

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

Little Joe I1 -- November 4, 1959 -- From Wallops Station, toevaluate critical low-altitude abort conditions.

Little Joe I11 -- December 4, 1959 -- From Wallops Station, t ocheck performance of the escape system at high altitude, Rhesusmonkey Sam was aboard.

Little Joe IV -- January 21, 1960 -- From Wallops Station, tocheck escape system under high airloads. Rhesus monkey Miss Sam wasaboard.

In addition, three production versions, built by McDonnellAircraft Company, have been test flown.

May 9, 1959, a McDonnell-built spacecraft underwent a test ofi t s escape system in an off-the-pad abort situation. This test wasconducted at Wallops Station and only the craft and its escaperocket system were used,

July 29, 1960, a Mercury spacecraft test flight was conductedat Cape Canaveral, Florida, utilizing an Atlas booster. The purposeof the test was t o qualify the spacecraft under m a x i m u m airloads andafterbody heating during reentry,attainment of flight objectives,

A system malfunction prevented

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- 4 -Nov. 8 , 1960 0- L i t t l e Joe V - From Wallops Station to qualify

production hardware In an abort under most severe launch conditionsanticipated daring an Atlas-boosted launch.separation prevented attainment of flight obJectives. This test willbe repeated,

A booster-spacecraft

NOV . 21, 1960 - Mercury-Redstone - From Cape Canaveral to qu aliwhardware,causing engine cutoff which jettisoned the spacecraft esca,pe tower,The booster rose approximately one Inch from the pad, then settled back,dausing 8ome booster damage. The spacecraft, however, was reusable.

A ground plug disconnected a fraction of a second too soon ,

mr-1a press kit

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