FlightGlobal.com
Home
Premium
Archive
Video
Images
Forum
Atlas
Blogs
Jobs
Shop
RSS
Email Newsletters
You are in:
Home
Aviation History
1961
1961 - 0605.PDF
"V * "***"* f JGHT, U May 1961 Missiles and Space flight. . . FIRST AMERICAN IN SPACE (continued from page 613) o; its amazing success—gave the United States an opportunity torecoup some of what many people regard as its lost prestige in space. It is widely accepted here that Shepard's brief ride is no answer toCosmonaut Yuri Gagarin's orbital flight. It is felt, however, that iv.z conduct of the mission in the full glare of publicity added aningredient which the Soviet Union has never chosen to sprinkle into its space pudding. More than 500 representatives of news outlets, including dozensfrom a total of ten foreign countries, attended the launching. Not all—including here some Americans—were completely in sympathywith what was being attempted. However, they were given full information with only the understanding that it would not be useduntil the countdown reached T-minus-ten. The rule was bent almost beyond recognition, but was not broken. A taped recording of the radio "chatter" during the astronaut'sflight was played back a few hours after the launch. It revealed in detail the absolute precision of the mission. Highlights follow.About one second after zero, Shepard announced "Lift-off and the clock is started." This referred to a digital timtkeeper zeroedon the moment of ignition. At T — 30 he reported a g-loading of 1.2, and nominal conditionsin the cabin. This was the first of a series of periodic reports Shepard was instructed to give on tne following points: H2O2 fuelsupply for control system; g-loading experienced by pilot; pitch angle of the craft; cabin pressure in Ib/sq in, and a statement whetherthe cabin oxygen supply was satisfactory. Shepard reported g-load build-up to slightly under 6 about:.5min out, when the rocket was approaching burnout. His pitch angle was as programmed throughout. Cabin pressure remainedat 5.51b/sq in (about 0.4 atm), and the oxygen supply remained in a "go" condition throughout. The astronaut probably added a new phrase to the Englishlanguage by his repeated use of "A-OK" to report satisfactory conditions in flight. On the way back to Cocoa Beach, Florida, sixmiles south of the Cape, newsmen were shouting "A-OK" to one another, and many used the phrase in their stories. It means "allOK." Three minutes after launch, computer readouts in the MercuryControl Center enabled spokesmen to announce "It looks like a nominal impact," meaning that the trajectory established underpowered flight was a parabola with its farther end in the ocean near the planned impact area. At T plus 7min lOsec the control centrepredicted an impact point seven statute miles over nominal, which was what happened—297 miles, compared with 290 in the pro-gramme. The capsule was spotted visually on re-entry by telescopic instru-ments aboard naval ships in the drop zone. The visual sighting was confirmed by radar when the 63ft canopy parachute opened slightlymore than 10,000ft up. Helicopters from the aircraft carrier Lake Champlain, a 40,000 ton ASW vessel, were orbiting the impactarea above the capsule as it parachuted into the water. "He was out of the capsule and into a helicopter (a SikorskyHUS-1 of the Marine Corps) within 5min, and the capsule was lifted by the 'copter a minute later. It landed on the Champlain atten o'clock," said the Flotilla Commander, Rear-Admiral V. F. H. Hilles. Shepard got out of the helicopter on the Chumplains deck,walked to a sick-bay area for a preliminary medical examination, and was summoned to the telephone to speak with the President ofthe United States. Later he was taken to Grand Bahama for a detailed physical and psychological check, and "de-briefing" byNASA officers and his fellow astronauts. A press conference, at which time Shepard would have his firstpost-launch exposure to newsmen's questions, was scheduled for May 8, at the State Department auditorium in Washington. 615 MAY DAY IN RED SQUARE Although it was one of the largest of recent years, the 1961May Day (May 1) parade through Red Square, Moscow, was not the occasion of any great disclosures. The mixture as before (per-haps more so) tramped and roared past the Lenin Mausoleum, from which Maj Gagarin smiled and waved beside Mr Krushchevduring four near-freezing hours. Following the armoured vehicles, guns and multi-barrelled rocket launchers, came the followingguided or spin-stabilized missiles:— (1) Eight surface-to-air missiles, on articulated transporters.These Nike-like two-stage weapons, said to be called M-2, were hailed by the Tass radio commentator as having been responsiblefor bringing down Powers' Lockheed U-2 exactly one year pre- viously. (2) Eight surface-to-air missiles, on articulated transportersbasically similar to those used for item 1. This weapon, a designa- tion for which has yet to be invented in the West, is slightly largerthan the tandem-boost pattern, and differs in several major respects. The boost motor is not a large tandem unit with fins and trailing-edge controls, but is simply a high-thrust, short-duration charge forming the first stage of the internal propulsion system. Flightcontrol is effected by cruciform foreplanes, used in conjunction with a cruciform of wings of greater span than those of "M-2." (3) Four spin-stabilized rockets carried on the standard airborne,amphibious, tracked chassis. Said to be designated Type T-5A, these specimens differed only slightly from examples seen previously.(4) Four spin-stabilized rockets carried on the same chassis as item 3. Said to be designated T-5C, these employ the same motor asT-5A but have a much heavier warhead, with a cylindrical case of some 20in diameter. (5) Eight spin-stabilized rockets carried on the JS.3 tank chassis.Said to be designated T-5B, these weapons have a still larger war- head—certainly big enough to be nuclear—attached to the front ofa fatter motor which before firing is protected by a heavy covering drum—probably to hold the propellant charge at a suitable tempera-ture in an Arctic environment. (6) Four tactical ballistic weapons carried on a JS.3 chassis. Said to be called T-7A. these missiles weigh some 10,0001b each, and appear to be launched vertically. (7) Two pairs of tactical ballistic missiles, on four-wheeled trailerstowed behind tracked tugs in which ride the launch crew of 20. These missiles appeared to be identical to those called "T-l"or "M-101," first seen in the 1957 October Revolution parade. Apart from generally cleaning-up and painting the missiles andvehicles to an exhibition standard—something noticeable in the last two May Day parades—the only change evident was a flatinstrumentation fairing leading from the warhead to the base of the upper tank section. (8) Two pairs of "stretched" versions of item 7. These weaponswere the only wholly new missiles in the parade, and clearly repre- sent a major development with substantially increased payload/range. It is estimated that the overall length has been increased from 55ft to about 63ft, and both tank sections carry four axialinstrumentation and pipe fairings, spaced 90 apart, similar to those of Titan. EUROPEAN CO-OPERATION Speaking in the French National Assembly on May 4, M.Guillaumat, Minister for Public Functions, suggested that a first possibility for a joint European space programme could be aheavy Earth satellite equipped with instruments for astronomical observation. A second project, which should be feasible within the next sevenyears, would be to equip a heavy lunar satellite to be launched by a powerful rocket not yet available, after which an automaticobservatory might be sent to the Moon. Below is the lengthened version of the tactical ballistic missile said to be designated "T-l" or "M-101"; the tankage sections have much greater capacity and new axial fairings can be discerned running down the sides of the oxidant and fuel bays (see "May Day in Red Square")
Sign up to
Flight Digital Magazine
Flight Print Magazine
Airline Business Magazine
E-newsletters
RSS
Events
