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Aviation History
1961
1961 - 1117.PDF
FLIGHT, 17 August 1961 219 YEAR OF THE ASTRONAUTS... Flight's description of Cdr Shepard's ballistic flight was containedin our issues of May 11 and May 18. The interior of the Mercury spacecraft has been described in typical detail by the NationalAeronautics and Space Administration in these terms:— Instrument Panel. Instruments are located on a main instrumentpanel, a left console, and a right console. The main panel is directly in front of the pilot. Navigational instruments are located in theleft and centre sections of the panel and the periscope is located in the centre. The right section of the main panel is composed ofenvironmental system indicators and controls, electrical switches, and indicators and communication system controls. The left con-sole includes sequencing tele-lights and warning panel, indicators and controls for the spacecraft's automatic pilot (ASCS), environ-mental control and landing systems. All told there are well over 100 lights, fuses, switches and miscellaneous controls and displays. Periscope. Approximately 2ft in front of the pilot is located theEarth periscope which provides a 3601 view of the horizon. The pilot may manually adjust for low or high magnification. On"low" he will have a view of the Earth of about 1,900 miles in diameter; on "high" the field of view will be reduced to about 80miles. Altitude can be measured within —\Q nautical miles. The Mercury Earth periscope will, in addition, serve as a navigationalaid. Pilot Support Couch. The astronaut's couch is constructed of acrushable honeycomb material bonded to a glass-fibre shell and lined with a rubber padding. Each astronaut has a couch contouredto his specific shape. The couch is designed to support the pilot's body-loads during all phases of the flight and to protect him fromthe acceleration forces of launch and re-entry. Restraint System. The pilot restraint system, which consists ofshoulder and chest straps, leg straps, a crotch strap, lap belt and toe guards, is designed to restrain the astronaut in the couch duringmaximum deceleration. Environmental Control System. The environmental controlsystem provides the Mercury spacecraft cabin and the astronaut with a 100 per cent oxygen environment to furnish breathing,ventilation, and pressurization gas required during the flight. The system is completely automatic but, in the event the automaticcontrol malfunctions, manual controls can be used. The system consists of two individual control circuits, namely thecabin circuit and the suit circuit, which will normally operate for about 28hr. Both systems are operated simultaneously. The suitcircuit is simply isolated from the cabin circuit by the astronaut closing the faceplate on his helmet. Unless there is a failure in thecabin circuit causing loss of pressure, the pilot's pressure suit will not be inflated. Aeromedical Information. Throughout the flight the physicalwell-being of the pilot is monitored. The pilot's respiration rate and depth, electrocardiogram, and body temperature are telemetered toflight surgeons on the ground. Main Battery System. Three 3,000-watt-hour batteries and one1,500-watt-hour battery are connected in parallel to provide power for the complete mission and about a 16hr post-landing period.A standby back-up power system of 1,500-watt-hour capacity is also provided. To further ensure reliable operation of the pyrote •hnicsystem, each device has a completely isolated power feed system. Cameras. A 16mm camera is installed to the left of the astro-naut's head to photograph the instrument-panel display from launch through recovery. A pilot observer camera is mounted in the maininstrument panel and is also operated from launch through re- covery.Clock. There is a clock in the spacecraft with three major sepa- rate operational components; (1) a standard aircraft-type elapsedtime clock, (2) a "seconds from launch" digital indicator with a manual reset, and (3) a time-delay relay which is to initiate theretrograde fire sequence. When the preset time has passed, the relay closes and actuates the retrograde fire signal, at the sametime sending a telemetered signal to the ground. Altimeter. The Mercury barometer altimeter is a single-revolu-tion indicator with a range from sea level to 100,000ft. The dial face has reference marks at the drogue and main parachute deploy-ment altitudes. At the top right corner of the main panel are located environ-mental displays, providing the pilot with readings of cabin pres- sure, temperature, humidity, and oxygen quantity remaining.Survival Equipment. A survival kit on the left side of the pilot's couch contains a personnel parachute which may be used as athird parachute back-up for use in an extreme emergency. The survival package also contains a one-man life raft, de-salting kit,shark repellant, dye markers, first-aid kit, distress signals, a signal mirror, portable radio, survival ration, matches, a whistle, and10ft of nylon cord. Although not expected to be needed in Red- stone flights, it is the same kit as will be carried in the orbitalflights. On the booster side, the Mercury-Redstone used as the initiallaunch vehicle in the manned phases of the Mercury programme is a departure from the original Redstone design. Some 800 changeswere required to transform the old Redstone into what NASA describe as a "modern, man-carrying powerplant." In the re-design of the rocket, its 70in diameter tank section waslengthened by about 6ft, increasing the burning time by more than 20sec. This brought the length of the vehicle, including spacecraftand escape tower, up to 83ft and its weight to 66,0001b. Major changes in the engine were made to enhance reliability. Theseincluded provisions to allow for the increased burning time, and improvements in the peroxide system which drives the fuel andliquid oxygen pumps and provides thrust control. Other modifications improved the engine's stability and added ananti-fire-hazard system. The Mercury-Redstone engine, developed and built by Rocketdyne, generates a thrust of 78,0001b. Also addedwere a new instrument compartment, a completely automatic emergency sensing system, and a spacecraft adapter. I USED TO FLY PLANES" - GAGARIN ON GAGARIN WHEN the first Soviet artificial satellite of the Earth was launched I was finishing the Orenburg flying school. My schoolmates and I learned about this event after our flying exercises in Migs that very same day. We were very proud of the great achievement of Soviet science and engineering. It was clear that before long a human being would fly into space. And yet I thought it would probably be another ten years. However, it took less than four years. Of course, at that time I, too, wanted to fly to outer space, but it never occurred to me that I might be precisely the one to fly the first spaceship. I HEARD the name of Tsiolkovsky for the first time when I was still a schoolboy. When 1 attended the trade and industrial schools I learned to love this name. 1 studied Tsiolkovsky's works. I must say that in his book Outside the Earth Tsiol- kovsky very clearly foresaw all that 1 chanced to see with my own eyes during my flight. Tsiolkovsky, like no one else, had a clear idea of the world as it appears to a person in outer space. I LIKE many writers, both Soviet and classic. I am very fond of reading Chekhov, Tolstoi, Pushkin and Polevoi. My most favourite literary character, the one I learned to love when I was still a boy, is the main character in Boris Polevoi's book A Story About a Real Man. I regret very much that I have never had the chance of meeting Maresyev. I also read Jules Verne. Of course, his books are very interesting, but life proved things to be different. Ivan Yefremov's novel Andromeda is good and I liked it. However, since I have been in outer space I realize that not everything in this book is true to fact. But it is useful just the same. MY favourite occupation? I like flying best. 1 used to fly planes, but I like my space flight best of all. Can my first flight in an aircraft be compared with my flight of yesterday? It is hard to compare them. The former was a flight in a winged craft; the latter, in a wingless one. The plane flew at a speed of 150km/hr; the spaceship, 28,000 km/hr. The former flew at an altitude of 1,500 metres; the latter, 300km. IN the summer of 1960 1 joined the Party. This was the greatest and most memorable event in my life prior to my space flight, i dedicate my flight to our Party, our Government, the 22nd Congress of the Party, all our people who are marching in the forefront of humanity and are building a new society. I WANT to devote my life, my work, all my thoughts and feelings to the new science of the conquest of space. I should like to go to Venus to see what is under that planet's veil of clouds; I should like to visit Mars, to see for myself whether there are any canals on it. The Moon is not so distant a neighbour of ours and I don't think it will be very long before we can fly to the Moon and land on it.
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