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Product Name: ASTRONAUT OBSERVATIONS AND CONTROL TASKS DURING MR-3

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Cape Canaveral, FLA. - One of the prime objectives in Project Mercury is to determine man's capabilities in the environment of space. During the MR-3 flight, therefore, the astronaut will have several definite tasks to perform. In addition, the astronaut will inform the ground of the action he is taking, the events as they unfold, and what he is seeing during his control of the spacecraft. At the moment the Redstone lifts from the pad at Cape Canaveral, the pilot will check to determine if the flight timer on his instrument panel has begun to operate. If it has not, he actuates the clock start button and announces "clock operating." The following events will occur in a normal mission: Thirty seconds after lift-off, and for each subsequent 30 seconds of elapsed time during powered flight, the pilot will report on his control-system fuel supply, the amount of "g" loading he is experiencing, the pitch angle of his craft (in degrees), his cabin pressure (in pounds per square inch) and if his oxygen supply is satisfactory. If anything unusual happens he will report the event immediately to the ground. Two minutes and 15 seconds after lift-off, he will announce, "standing by for cutoff." A few seconds later the Redstone engine will cut off and the spacecraft's escape tower will jettison. The pilot will monitor these events and report them as they occur. About 15 seconds after engine cut off, the pilot announces, "Turn around started." The craft's automatic pilot turns the craft around 180 degrees, placing the blunt end forward. Just before T-3 minutes, the pilot announces, "In orbit m attitude." The craft is now travelling about 4500 mph and is nearing peak altitude. The blunt end is pitched slightly upward (14 degrees). When the spacecraft is 3 minutes from the launch pad, the pilot begins to twist and turn the control stick in his right hand, announcing, "Hand controller movements...pitch down...yaw left...pitch up...roll left...yaw right...roll right." This will be done during periods when the control stick will not be connected to the craft's control system. The purpose of this is to provide a study of the pilot's ability to perform while he is in a weightless environment. His hand motions will be instantaneously telemetered to the ground for analysis after the flight. Just after 3 minutes the astronaut announces, "Manual control handle on," then takes control of the attitude of the spacecraft on one axis at a time in the manual proportional control mode. For example, he will be able to perform basic maneuvers by manually taking control of the craft on one axis while the remaining axes are controlled by the automatic pilot. He will announce, "Manual pitch on...pitching to retro...returning to orbit." He will then announce, "Manual yaw on...yawing left twenty (degrees)...returning right to zero." He will then pull a third T handle on his instrument panel and announce, "Manual roll on...rolling left to twenty (degrees)...returning to zero." The spacecraft motions throughout this sequence of simple controls will be closely monitored. Time: Almost 4 minutes: The pilot for the first time in the flight begins to use his earth periscope as a navigational aid, controlling the capsule's attitude by using the periscope presentation for attitude reference. At this time he will describe his view of earth and inform the ground what predetermined checkpoints he can see from this altitude of approximately 100 miles. He is expected to say something like this, "Holding orbit with scope...weather map essentially correct, no alto cumulus in northeast quadrant of Carolina Coast...Florida to Gulf visible, Lake Okeechobee visible...Gulf of Mexico visible...Island 5 visible...Island 3 visible..." and so on. Just over four minutes from lift-off, he will announce, "Going high man...yawing left twenty (degrees)...returning right to zero...MARK." This will tell ground observers that the pilot has gone to high magnification on his earth periscope. Curvature of the earth is now noticeable and the astronaut's field of view is reduced from 1900 miles to about 80 miles of the earth's surface. He can see earth landmarks more clearly now. The pilot yaws his craft, then returns to his normal (zero degrees) position using his periscope for reference. This maneuver determines the accuracy to which he can determine yaw attitude with the periscope. About 4 1/2 minutes from the launch pad, the pilot manually pitches the blunt end up to 340, announcing "Start retrosequence..." (then, seconds later,) "in retroattitude...on manual." At a little past 5 minutes the flight is one-third over. Ground monitors listen as the pilot announces, "fire one." (then seconds later,) "fire two," and "fire three." Three powerful solid-propellant rockets on the blunt face of the craft ripple-fire. Each burns about 10 seconds. They will be fired in overlapping five second intervals. During later orbital flights around the earth, these rockets will be used to brake the speed of the craft, allowing the pull of gravity to bring it back into the atmosphere. In the Redstone suborbital training flights, they will be fired only for continued qualification of the retromotors and to provide pilots with manual retrofire control experience. The pilot will control any retrofire misalignment torque by the manual proportional control mode, reporting each retrofiring and announcing the precise moment at which the "fire retro" light comes on on his instrument panel. Seconds later the pilot arms the "retrojettison" switch so that the exhausted retrorocket package will be jettisoned through the automatic sequence. Coming up on 6 minutes: The pilot announces, "Going fly by wire." Simultaneously he switches his control mode to link his hand controller to a system of electrical relays which in turn operate the hydrogen-peroxide thrust output from nozzles around the neck and base of the craft. About 30 seconds later, he announces that his retropackage has been jettisoned. "Going HF," he then says, as he turns on the high frequency transmitter to check its operation. Six and one half minutes: "to reentry attitude," he reports, as the craft starts pitching blunt end down to reentry attitude in response to the pilot's control movements. "In reentry attitude...ASCS (auto pilot) holding," he says, as he switches from manual control back to automatic pilot. A few seconds later he reports the automatic retraction of his periscope. "Going UHF and starting hand controller movements," the pilot says. Can he now perform manual control tasks as well after 4 minutes of weightlessness as when he entered zero g? Here is a chance to compare his performance. "Pitch down...yaw left," he says as his right hand moves the sidearm controller, "pitch up, roll left...yaw right, roll right..." Seven minutes from launch: Time for the touch test. The astronaut touches, with his right hand, preselected instruments. His eyes are closed. "Cabin air," he says..."telemetry key...scope...AC volts...oxygen warning light..." his fingers move deftly across the maze of instruments...in all there are some 127 switches, dials, buttons and fuses. The touch test is a check of his psychomotor ability, and the complete sequence is recorded by the control panel camera. "Returning to manual control," announces the pilot. At this time he returns to manual in the roll axis to control the spin of the craft on its vertical axis during reentry. (Some roll is planned, to reduce landing dispersion.) Seven minutes, plus: "Point 05g," says the pilot. The Mercury spacecraft touches the delicate fringe of the earth's atmosphere. "Roll rate IN," he continues. The force of gravity presses him deeper and deeper into his contour couch. "Three g...6g...9g..." "Eleven...g..." There is a protracted period of silence. "Nine g...6g...3g..." His voice is clear and is no longer strained. "Rate of decent and altimeter on scale... Sixty thousand...fifty...forty..." He is 9 1/2 minutes from launch now. "Drogue (the small 6-foot parachute) deployed," he announces, then (four seconds later); "snorkel (ambient air valve) open...twenty thousand (feet)." Ten minutes plus from lift-off: From a small mirror at one of the craft's two viewport windows he should see the large (63 foot) red and white parachute unfurl from the capsule's upper neck. Seconds later the astronaut feels a pronounced tug. "Main chute out," he says, "reefed...coming open...rate of decent - 30 feet (about 20 mph)...periscope out...peroxide (control system fuel) dumped...landing bag (instrument panel indication) green. READY FOR LANDING." Ships and aircraft have the colorful parachute in view and vector to the landing area. A Project Mercury astronaut has returned from space. The functions described here are those established for test exercise purposes to investigate man's capabilities during a normal flight. In addition to these functions, the pilot of the Mercury craft can manually activate every system which is essential to the completion of the mission.

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In the next week or so, the Project Mercury's third Redstone launch will take place at Cape Canaveral. In this connection, James E. Webb, Administer or National Aeronautic and Space Administration, stated: "Our nation's space program will soon... more