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Aviation History
1961
1961 - 1116.PDF
218 FLIGHT, 17 August 1961 YEAR OF THE ASTRONAUTS... and transmitted during the spaceship's flight over ground receiving stations. Radio-telegraphy by the cosmonaut is also possible. In building the cosmic spaceship special attention was paid to ensuring the safety of flight. The launches of the first Soviet space- ship-satellites confirmed the high reliability of their apparatus and equipment. However, a series of supplementary measures were taken on the spaceship Vostok with the aim of excluding the pos- sibility of any accident and of guaranteeing a safe flight for the man in it. Such an attitude is fully in accord with the main task, that of creating hardware enabling man to venture into cosmic space with confidence. Finally, the construction of the spaceship permits descent to the Earth even in the case of failure of the retro-engine, by means of natural braking in the atmosphere. Supplies of food, water, regen- erating substances, and the capacity of the sources of electrical energy, are sufficient for ten days' flight. The construction of the spaceship includes measures to prevent the cabin temperature from rising above a certain limit, despite the prolonged heating of its surface arising from the gradual braking of the spaceship in the atmosphere. Launch-pad Scene. On the occasion of the Vostok 2 flight, Press reports included an eye-witness account of the launch-site scene— the first such description of any Soviet space launch—written by Tass special correspondent Alexander Romanov :— It is hot. Our car devours kilometre after kilometre of the smooth macadamized road. Villages, towns, high-tension pylons flash by. Suddenly at a turn, in the distance there looms up a kind of filigree construction. Coming nearer we begin to discern through the maze of steel the slender cigar-shaped body of a multi-stage rocket. Tremendous girders carefully but firmly cradle it, as if afraid that it may break loose into the sky without the permission of its creators. This is the launching pad. There are men all over the construction surrounding the spaceship. Time and again terse commands come over the public-address system. The last preparations for the flight are under way. An elevator cabin runs down from the top of the rocket and on to the launching pad there steps out a middle-sized fellow in a checked, dark blue shirt tucked into light grey trousers. Quickly running down a ladder, he came up to the group surrounding the chief designer, the man in whose hands converge all the threads in preparing the celestial journey. We would probably have never paid any attention to the boy in the dark blue shirt, who looked like any other worker, had not the man next to me whispered: "That is the cosmonaut—Herman Stepanovich Titov." By evening all the work had been finished, and we saw the spaceman again. Wearing a flying suit, he was surrounded by comrades who were getting the spaceship ready for its long journey. . .. Herman spoke warmly and sincerely. He thanked his comrades for their good wishes and said he was proud of the trust placed in him and promised to come to the cosmodrome and tell them about the flight on his return to Earth. On the morning of August 6. the Sun, burning hot over the steppe, lit up the silver spaceship, the cosmodrome, and the flowers growing beside the pavement. Members of the Government commission, dis- tinguished Soviet scientists, designers, engine testers and the staff of the launching command assembled at the command post. The chairman of the commission opens the meeting, the lastbefore the spaceship's flight. The reports are terse to the extreme. Their meaning could be expressed in one or two words: "Every-thing is ready for the flight." The State commission names the moment for launching. The launching area is cleared, only essentialstaff remain. Here comes the light-blue bus carrying the spaceman. Titov alights, crosses to the launching area and the lift takes him up to his cabin. He is wearing an orange-coloured flying suit with "USSR" written on it, and walks rather clumsily. The flying suit, of course, is not for strolling on Earth. Under the suit are various transmitters, which will send back information about the pilot's physical condition. Having said goodbye to his friends—future cosmonauts—Herman Titov walks to the lift. . . . The chairman of the commission, scientists and the chief designer shake the pilot firmly by the hand, embrace him and wish him a successful flight. Herman ascends the stairway to the platform where the lift is situated and addresses those assembled below, and all the Soviet people. He says that he will fulfil with honour the task which has been entrusted to him by the party and the Govern- ment. All those on the cosmodrome warmly applauded him. We see Titov enter the cabin. The command "Take off' will be given shortly. . . . Titov was then brought a small book, bearing on its cover the words "Log book of the Spaceship Vostok 2." A pencil is attached to the cover and the cosmonaut checks that it is firmly fixed, so that it will not be lost during the state of weightlessness. Yuri Gagarin did not attach his pencil firmly and lost it. Yuri found it afterwards. Titov laughs.. . . To observe the spaceship take-off we go to a special square about a mile from the launching place, but we are not cut off from what is happening on the spaceship. The radio brings the final commands. Ten minutes to go ... the chairman of the State Commission asks the cosmonaut how he feels. "I feel wonderful, wonderful," he says. "Thank you lor your attention." Five minutes to go ... and at last, in the silence, rings out the last command: "Take-off." From a distance we can see the silver rocket, already completely free from the supporting gantry. Another second, exactly 0900, and the rocket—propelled by some unbelievable, miraculous force—slowly, it seems very slowly, leaves the Earth. Gathering force, it streaks more and more quickly upwards, like a roaring fiery globe. At this moment it seems that two Suns are shining on the Earth. At a comparatively low height the spaceship inclines to the side and flies on its set course into orbit . . . United States Programme. Turning to the American programme, an extensive series of flight tests of the Mercury capsule and its systems preceded the manned sub-orbital flights of Shepard and Grissom earlier this year. The complete series included the follow- ing major shots:— 1959. September 9. Big Joe. NASA-produced research and developmentcapsule, launched by Atlas from Cape Canaveral to test validity of the Mercury concept. Capsule survived high heat and air loads andwas successfully recovered. October 4. Little Joe 1. Fired at NASA Wallops Station, WallopsIsland, to check matching of booster and spacecraft. Launch vehicle comprised eight solid-propellant rockets producing 250,0001b thrust. November 4. Little Joe 2. Evaluation of the low-altitude abortconditions, from Wallops Station. December 4. Little Joe 3. Test of high-altitude performance of theescape system, carrying rhesus monkey Sam as test subject, from Wallops Station. 1960. January 21. Little Joe 4. Evaluation of escape system under highair loads, carrying rhesus monkey Miss Sam as test subject, from Wallops Station. May 9. Beach abort test of capsule 1. First McDonnell productioncapsule and its escape rocket system were fired in an off-the-pad abort escape-rocket test at Wallops Station.July 29. Mercury-Atlas 1 (capsule 4). This was the first Atlas- boosted flight, aimed at qualifying the capsule under maximumairloads and afterbody heating rate during re-entry conditions. The capsule contained no escape system and no test subject. The shot,from Cape Canaveral, was unsuccessful because of a booster system malfunction.November 8. Little Joe 5 (capsule 3). From Wallops Station, to check the production capsule in an abort simulating the most severeLittle Joe booster conditions. The shot was unsuccessful. November 21. Mercury-Redstone 1 (capsule 2). This was the firstunmanned Redstone-boosted flight, but premature engine cut-off activated the emergency escape system when the booster was onlyabout lin off the pad. The booster settled back on the pad at Cape Canaveral and was damaged slightly. The capsule was recoveredfor re-use. December 19. Mercury-Redstone 1A (capsule 2). This Cape Canaveralshot was a repeat of the November 21 attempt and was completely successful. The capsule reached a peak altitude of 135 miles, covereda horizontal distance of 236 miles and was recovered successfully. 1961. January 31. Mercury-Redstone 2 (capsule 5). Carrying chimpanzeeHam, the capsule reached an altitude of 155 miles, landed 420 miles downrange from Cape Canaveral and was recovered. During thelanding phase the parachuting capsule was drifting as it struck the water. The impact forced the suspended heat shield against a bundleof potted wires, which drove a bolt through the pressure bulkhead, causing the capsule to leak. Ham was rescued before the capsulehad taken on too much water. February 21. Mercury-Atlas 2 (capsule 6). Made to check maximumheating and its effect during the worst re-entry design conditions, this shot achieved an altitude of 108 miles. The re-entry angle washigher than planned and the heating was correspondingly more severe than anticipated. It landed 1,425 miles downrange from CapeCanaveral. Maximum speed was about 13,000 m.p.h., and the shot was successful. March 18. Little Joe 5A (capsule 14). A repeat of the unsuccessfulLittle Joe 5, this Wallops Station shot was only marginally successful. April 25. Mercury-Atlas 3 (capsule 8). An attempt to orbit thecapsule from Cape Canaveral with a "mechanical astronaut" aboard. 40sec after launch the booster was destroyed by radio commandgiven by the range safety officer. The capsule was recovered and is to be used again. April 28. Little Joe 5B (capsule 14). This was the third attempt tocheck the escape system under the worst conditions, using a Little Joe fired from Wallops Station. The capsule reached 40,000ft in acompletely successful shot. May 5. Mercury-Redstone 3 (capsule 1). Astronaut Alan B. Shepardwas carried on a ballistic flight-path reaching peak altitude of 115 miles and downrange distance of 302 miles from Cape Canaveral.The flight was successful. July 21. Mercury-Redstone 4 (capsule 9). Astronaut Virgil I.Grissom carried on ballistic flight-path reaching peak altitude of 118 miles and downrange distance of 303 miles from Cape Canaveral.The flight was successful and the astronaut was recovered safely, but the capsule sank and was not recovered.
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