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Aviation History
1962
1962 - 2342.PDF
Lift-off at Cape Canaveral on October 3: Cdr Walter Schirra, "Sigma Seven" spacecraft. Atlas booster Missiles and Spaceflight SIX ORBITS BY SI GIVTA SEVEN In what was apparently the most successful of all the manned Pro ject Mercury flights, Cdr Walter Schirra in spacecraft Sigma Seven completed the full-duration Mercury-Atlas 8 mission on October 3. Launched from Cape Canaveral at 12.15 p.m. GMT (7.15 a.m. local time), he completed five and three-quarter orbits around the Earth and came down in the Pacific some 275 miles north-east of Midway Island, within sight of the aircraft carrier USS Kearsarge. His spacecraft hit the water at 9.28 p.m. GMT and was lifted aboard the Kearsarge at 10.10 p.m. Apogee, perigee and orbital period for the flight were quoted by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration as 176 miles, 100 miles and 88.5min. The astronaut was reportedly able to com plete his flight programme as scheduled, and the only major irre gularity was an overheating of his pressure suit during the first orbit. Overheating of the pressure suit was also one of the defects experienced in the three-orbit flight of Scott Carpenter on May 24. After the MA-8 flight of October 3 Cdr Schirra was reported to be in good health. Although the flight was made at an altitude well below both the natural radiation belt and the artificially created belt which followed the US high-altitude nuclear test of July 9, the "leakage" of electrons from the artificial belt into the atmosphere over the south Atlantic had been expected to expose the spacecraft to an estimated radiation of 500 rontgens during the period of the fight. Only 8 rontgens, it was calculated, would reach the astro naut inside the capsule. Cdr Schirra reported seeing the "snowflake" or "'firefly" particles previously described by Col Glenn and Cdr Carpenter, near the outside of his spacecraft. Visibility was not good for the flare experiment at Woomera, and the astronaut reported that the flares •here had been obscured by cloud. After recovery of the capsule aboard the Kearsarge, Schirra examined the panels of experimental leat-proteetion materials mounted on the outer skin of the space craft. The scheduled MA-8 flight and its experiments were described in detail in last week's issue. THE FIVE-YEAR RECORD During the five years beginning with the launch of Sputnik 1 on October 4, 1957, and ending with Cdr Schirra's six-orbit flight in Mercury spacecraft Sigma Seven on October 3, 1962, a total of 126 main spacecraft were launched into orbit around the Earth. This figure is subject to the following qualifications:— (1) The total refers only to announced launchings, and includes two Soviet satellites announced only by the USA. (2) It comprises 123 Earth satellites and the Ranger 1, Ranger 2 and Lunik 3 lunar probes. (3) It omits the USAF satellite launch of November 22, 1961 which was announced as successful at the time but which subse quently appeared to have been unsuccessful. (4) It assumes one satellite per launch for all unidentified USAF firings except that carrying Oscar 2. There is reason to believe that at least one of the other unidentified USAF launches placed two separate satellites in orbit. (5) It does not include rocket stages, fragments, fairings and associated objects. Of the 123 Earth satellites, 98 are American (including two carry ing "international" payloads, one British and one Canadian) and 25 are Russian. Of the 98 American satellites, 55 are US Air Force satellites (of which 30 were identified as Discoverer, Samos or Midas craft and 25 were unidentified). Three of the American satellites were manned, and four of the Russian ones were manned. Successful and partially successful space probes launched during the five-year period comprised Pioneer 1, 70,700 miles; Pioneer 2, 963 miles; Pioneer 3, 63,580 miles; Lunik 1, solar orbit; Pioneer 4, solar orbit; Lunik 2, lunar impact; Lunik 3, Earth orbit, lunar photography; Pioneer 5, solar orbit; Soviet Venus probe, solar orbit; Ranger 1, parking Earth orbit; Ranger 2, parking Earth orbit; Ranger 3, solar orbit; Ranger 4, lunar impact; Mariner, solar orbit. A specially prepared feature covering all spacecraft launched during the five years beginning with Sputnik 1 will be published in our issue of November 11. This will depict, in chart form, launch dates, lifetimes and orbital heights, and will provide the only single- source ready reference to the achievements of the first five years in space. ALOUETTE IN ORBIT Initial reports have indicated that the US/Canadian Alouette ionospheric topside-sounder satellite, launched by Thor Agena B from Point Arguello, California on September 29, is performing well. The achieved orbit was polar and almost circular, ranging from a perigee of 630 miles to an apogee of 650 miles.
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