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Aviation History
1962
1962 - 0258.PDF
260 FLIGHT International, 15 February 1%2 Missiles and Spaceflight Operations room in Mercury control centre, Cape Canaveral capabilities in space and successfully to recover the astronaut arid spacecraft. Physiological data on the astronaut, environmental data inside the capsule and engineering data on the capsule and its flight will be acquired, displayed and recorded at the Mercury Control Center, which also functions as the operations control point during the flight. Information is fed to the control centre by telemetry from the spacecraft; by communication links from the 18 stations located along the Earth track of the flight; and from the dual IBM 7090 computer installation at the Goddard centre. The control centre is instrumented and staffed to receive, record, display and interpret all incoming data rapidly and accurately. Layout of the operations room is indicated in the diagram (right), which shows in particular the positions of the operations director and his staff. The four flight data recorders along the right-hand wall of the room have the following functions:— Recorder 1 plots the launch path as gamma (inertial flight-path angle) versus velocity ratio, and the orbital path as altitude above spherical Earth versus velocity. Recorder 2 plots the launch path as cross-range deviation and altitude versus range, and the orbital path as semi-major axis deviation and altitude versus ground elapsed time. Recorder 3 plots insertion velocity and longitudinal acceleration versus elapsed time, and yaw error and insertion altitude versus "time to go to sustainer engine cut-off"; and the orbit as Earth- fixed longitude of perigee, and eccentricity versus elapsed time. Mercury Tracking and Control AS this issue went to press the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Mercury tracking network of 18 stations throughout the world was preparing once again for the Mercury-Atlas 6 orbital attempt by Lt-Col John Glenn from Cape Canaveral. Nerve-centres to which the out-stations are connected are the Project Mercury control centre at Cape Canaveral, and the space computing centre of Goddard Space Flight Center in Green- belt, Maryland. The success of Col Glenn's flight could well depend on the efficient operation of this complex network of track ing, data-gathering and flight-control elements, here described in detail. The broad objectives of the flight are to investigate human Recorder 4 plots the chart of the launch recovery area. One pen will plot the point at which landing would be effected if the retro- rockets were fired immediately before tower separation, and also the landing point if the retro-rockets were fired in 30sec. The second pen will plot the landing point for a time of retro-fire for maximum delay when the capsule reaches a prescribed altitude. Voice intercommunication is provided between all members of the flight-control team, their supporting instrumentation personnel, and selected members of the vehicle launching team; and there is voice communication with the astronaut in the spacecraft when it passes over Cape Canaveral as well as with ten other Mercury stations around the world. The global tracking and communication network set up for Project Mercury comprises stations at: I, Cape Canaveral; la, Grand Bahama Island; lb, Grand Turk Island; 2, Bermuda; 3, Atlantic ship; 4, Grand Canary Island; 5, Kano, Nigeria; 6, Zanzibar; 7, Indian Ocean ship; 8,'Muchea; 9, Woomera; 10 (deleted); II, Canton Island; 12, Kauai Island, Hawaii; l3,PtArguello; 14, Guaymas, Mexico; 15, White Sands, New Mexico; 16, Corpus Christi, Texas; 17, Eglin, Florida
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