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Product Name: PILOT PREPARATION FOR THE MR-3 MISSION

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CAPE CANAVERAL, FLA. - Pilot rehearsals for Mercury-Redstone 3, using actual flight hardware under realistic conditions, have been vigorously conducted for more than a month. Before the launch, many mission simulations were conducted using training facilities at Project Mercury Headquarters, Langley Field, VA with the Mercury pilot "flying" his spacecraft within a specially designed altitude chamber located in Hanger "S" at Cape Canaveral, Fla., and in the Navy Centrifuge at Johnsville, Pa. In preparation for the chamber runs to space equivalent altitude, the pilots were subjected to preflight physicals, equipped with medical sensors, and assisted into their 20-lb full-pressure space suits. The pilots and medical attendants simulated all requirements as realistically as conditions would permit, conducting pressure and biomedical checks on the suit. About two weeks before the programmed launch date, three days were devoted to conducting flight tests with the medical transfer van, carrying an astronaut and aeromedical attendants, moving from Hanger "S" to the launch site. Wearing his full-pressure suit, a pilot went up the gantry and entered the spacecraft. A realistic countdown and simulated Mercury flight, followed with ground flight controllers at their stations. During the first two simulations the gantry remained up against the vehicle and the side hatch of the spacecraft was left off. The third day, "dry run" simulation included securing the side hatch, purging the pilot's cabin with oxygen and pulling away the gantry. During the four days preceding launch, the MR-3 mission was repeatedly rehearsed, both in the vehicle and in a Link-type spacecraft simulator (the Mercury Procedures Trainer) in the Mercury Control Center. Three days before flight, the pilots will be placed on a low residue diet. At two in the morning of the day of the launch, lights will go on in the crews' quarters on the second floor of Hanger "S". After a shower and a shave, the pilot will have breakfast. He will have a selection of things to eat; however, a typical breakfast will consist of: 4 ounces of orange sherbet; 4 ounces of frozen strawberries in syrup, 2 sugar cookies and 8 ounces of skim milk. Forty minutes after he is awakened, he will be given a preflight physical. About 35 minutes will be spent placing medical sensors against tattooed reference marks on his body. Then he will climb into his pressure suit. At T-145 minutes the astronaut will leave Hanger "S" in a medical van, together with a procession of escort vehicles and will begin the 15-minute trip to the launching site. The astronaut's suit is purged with oxygen during the transfer period, and as the pilot relaxes in a reclining couch, continuos medical data are read out from the trailer consoles. At T-2 hours the pilot's final briefing will be conducted. The medical van will have halted near the Mercury-Redstone. Fifteen minutes are devoted then to donning his gloves and conducting a leakage test of the suit. An additional 5 minutes elapses as the pilot and his attendants ascend the gantry. T-100 Minutes: The flight surgeon in the Mercury Control Center passes the word along to the Flight Director - "The astronaut is on gantry." The pilot enters the craft through the side hatch and adjusts himself in the contour couch. Communications and biomedical leads are connected. Restraint harnesses are secured about his shoulders, torso, and knees. At T-75 minutes, the astronaut's helmet visor is closed and the suit is inflated to 50 pounds per square inch. Leakage checks are conducted. A button is depressed on the side of the pilot's helmet and the pressure is exhausted. The suit will not be inflated during flight unless the cabin pressure should fail. The suit, therefore, serves as a backup "pressure chamber" providing the proper gaseous environment to sustain life in the event of failure of the primary system (cabin). Installation of the spacecraft's side hatch commences. The operation takes 20 minutes. A flow of cold oxygen is forced into the cabin. Leakage checks are conducted to insure that the pilot's chamber is properly sealed. T-55 Minutes: Spacecraft technicians leave the gantry and the gantry is moved away from the launch vehicle. T-15 Minutes: Mr. Walter Williams, Mercury Operations Director, informs Dr. Kurt Debus, that he may obtain Range Clearance for the Redstone. T-4 Minutes: All spacecraft systems are in GO condition. Mercury Control Center is GO on telemetry and voice communications. Atlantic Missile Range is GO on spacecraft C and S (radar) beacons. The spacecraft ready light is ON. T-2 Minutes: Freon flow (spacecraft cabin coolant) is stopped. Remaining commands are initiated by the Test Conductor. T-35 Seconds to lift-off - in rapid sequence: The test conductor announces "Capsule umbilical dropped." Other controller voices announce:

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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