Another chapter in the series about the beginning of the space age
As part of the US plans to land a man on the moon, the Mercury series of spacecraft was the first manned series to be tested in space conditions. The time spent in space was typical for these flights. These spacecraft stayed in space for a short time ranging from 34 minutes to 3 hours. These flights are classified For two types. The first two flights were suborbital flights: the spacecraft were launched to a certain altitude and then returned to Israel Orbital: These flights were longer. The flight duration was gradually extended from 22 laps to XNUMX. The requirements that these space pilots had to meet were extremely difficult. Thanks to their courage and strong will, these astronauts succeeded To bring to a successful end the series of flights in Mercury spacecraft as the first step to landing a man on the moon.
As a first step towards the launch of manned Mercury spacecraft, 9 experimental launches of spacecraft and spacecraft models were conducted. Only after the space scientists saw the ability and reliability of these spacecraft to meet the conditions of space, they began to launch humans into space.
The structure of the spaceship
The Mercury spacecraft was designed for one person, for a trip around the Earth. The shape of the spaceship is a huge bell, whose base diameter is 1.8 meters. From its base the spaceship goes and becomes narrow until the bow. The length of the spacecraft is 2.9 meters. The weight of the spacecraft is 1.35 tons. An escape tower is attached to the bow.
- The escape tower
The escape tower is an automatic facility designed to protect the astronauts in times of danger: during the spaceship's stay on the launch pad, during launch and when it moves under the power of its engines during takeoff. A malfunction can be caused by a deviation in the angle of the missile, a loss of thrust, a short circuit, or an excessive rate of rotation.
The tower is operated in 3 possible forms:
- A. automatically
- B. command from the control center
- third. through the astronaut
If a malfunction occurs, an electrical alarm is automatically activated and the missile's thrust stops. The spaceship detached from the missile, the escape tower ignited and by its power the spaceship moved to a height of hundreds of meters. After a second the engine of the escape tower shut down. When the spaceship reaches the required height, a parachute opens that returns the astronaut to earth.
The structure of the cell (see the same note under the heading "Escape Tower")
The astronaut lies in a special armchair with his back turned towards the flattened end of the spaceship. To the astronaut's right are control systems for the yaw, pitch and roll. To the left is a manual mechanism for activating the rescue system in case the automatic system does not work.
The control panel is in front of the astronaut and includes gauges for measuring acceleration, ascent or dive rate and fuel supply. In the center of the panel is the control mechanism of the automatic escape system. On the right of the panel are control lights for testing the spacecraft's environmental control system. This system checks pressure and temperature in the spacecraft and the space suit. Extremes on the right, a warning mechanism and a bell, warning lights for emergencies. Below the control lights is the meter for the electrical system and below that the control signals and the communication bell. To the left of the control panel are control devices for the braking rockets, reducing and increasing the pressure. There is also a system of lights to check the operating times of the spacecraft's systems. Green light - everything is going well. Red light - fault. Next to each bulb there is a handle to fix the problem. Below the control panel is a periscope and above it a porthole for viewing the horizon.
- Communication Systems
The spacecraft has a dual communication system, two ultra-frequency (VHF) and high-frequency systems for voice communication, two telemetry channels that integrate into the ultra-high frequency system and a separate emergency system for voice transmissions using an ultra-frequency and high-frequency transceiver.
- Auxiliary systems
The spacecraft has radar spotlights for emergencies, two 16 mm cameras for photographing the astronaut and the control panel, and a 70 mm camera for photographing the horizon. These systems provide information on the condition of the scientific equipment, the condition of the astronaut, and the condition of the spacecraft during its flight.
Dispatch
For suborbital flights, Mercury spacecraft were launched with a Redstone missile that developed a thrust of 32,760 tons during takeoff. For orbital flights, they used an Atlas model rocket whose three engines provided a thrust of 154,400 tons. This rocket has 2 stages. In the first stage, 2 engines and in the second stage, one engine.
Before the launch, the astronaut wakes up at 1:2 AM, eats eggs, tea (?!) and orange juice. Two and a half hours before launch, he undergoes final medical tests, puts on the spacesuit, enters the spaceship and checks it for the last time. From now until the end of the flight he maintains close contact with the control center. As the countdown ends, the rocket and spacecraft soar to a high altitude. 5 minutes after launch the first stage engines burn out and shut down. The escape tower also disconnected and with one engine the missile continues to increase its speed. 256.64 minutes after the launch, the operation of the second stage stops. The spacecraft detached from him, its flattened part being directed forward by tiny jet rockets. The spacecraft orbits the Earth in an elliptical orbit whose distance from the ground is between 160.4-29,700 km and its speed is XNUMX km/h.
landing
Before the spaceship enters the atmosphere, 3 rockets are fired that slow down the speed of the spaceship (the astronaut is then subjected to a force of g12). The flattened end of the spacecraft, equipped with an ablative insulation sheath, is directed towards the ground. At an altitude of 6 km, a parachute with a diameter of 1.8 meters opens, which slows down the speed and stabilizes the spacecraft. At an altitude of 3 km, a parachute with a diameter of 18.9 opens, which slows the speed of the descent to 3 meters per second. Later, a 1.2 meter long plastic pad was deployed under the spacecraft to absorb the shocks of landing on the water. After landing there is a flash of bright light at the top end of the spaceship and the radar transmitters start working. A few minutes later, the spaceship is pulled out of the water by a helicopter and put on an aircraft carrier.
Test flights
The Mercury program began on August 21.8.1959, XNUMX. The space scientists set themselves the goal in their first attempt of launching an unmanned duplicate of the spacecraft on a "Little Joe" model rocket from Wallops Island off the coast of Virginia. Half an hour before the launch, the rumble of the missile was suddenly heard and smoke surrounded the launch pad. When the smoke cleared the rocket was still standing, but the launch tower and spacecraft model were gone. The malfunction was caused by the premature ignition of the escape rockets.
On September 9.9.1958, 1000, an Atlas missile was launched to a range of over 900 km. The missile carried a XNUMX kg cell in its nose with research equipment and air conditioning to find out if there is a possibility of returning humans alive from terrestrial orbit. The attempt failed.
On October 5.10.1959, 9.9.1958, the missile that was supposed to be launched on September 6, 150 was launched. The rocket whose name was changed to "Little Joe 60" carried a model of the spacecraft in its nose. The purpose of the launch was to test the self-destruct system in case of an emergency. XNUMX seconds after launch, at an altitude of XNUMX km, the missile was destroyed.
On December 4.12.1959, 2, Sugar launched the Little Joe 320 rocket with the monkey "Sam" as part of an experiment designed to test a mechanism for returning humans from space. The monkey was launched from Valfus to an altitude of 39 km. 1 minutes later it landed and was picked up by the destroyer "Mullet". The monkey was alert and in good health, although the landing blow was stronger than expected. The weight of the cell was 8 ton. When the cell was detached from the missile the monkey was For the power of g19 and towards the landing the power reached g3, a measuring device was attached to the monkey's head that can absorb impulses electrical currents created by the adoption of the eye muscles. By measuring these impulses it was possible to determine the degree of dizziness that plagued the monkey. In addition to this device, additional devices were attached to the monkey's body to measure blood pressure, respiration and metabolism of weightlessness. He is trained and used to respond to the instruction in the form of a tiny light. When a bulb that emits this light is turned on, the monkey swings a small lever which is similar to the control rod of an airplane.
Besides the monkey, the cell also contained rat nerve cells, test tubes of bacterial cultures and insect eggs. The researchers wanted to examine the effect of acceleration, weightlessness and the effect of radiation on these animals.
The launch of Little Joe 5 was postponed due to technical problems on one day from 7.11.1960 to 8.11. While the accelerator was operating, the escape rocket and the combination rocket of the escape tower were accidentally ignited, the parts stuck together and with strong acceleration crashed into the ocean 21 km from the coast.
Mercury 1
On November 12.11.1960, 1, the first Mercury spacecraft was launched, Mercury 10. The spacecraft was launched with a Redstone rocket. Launch failed. At the end of the count, the engine began to operate with the characteristic thunder. The missile rose to a height of XNUMX cm and landed on the launch pad. At that moment the escape tower detached from the spaceship and rose into the air. A few seconds later the parachute opened. Slowly the parachute fluttered as it moved towards the ground and following it the spare parachute that was in the opening on the side of the spaceship opened.
MR-1A
On 19.12.1960/1/1, a Redstone model missile was launched with a model of the Mercury spacecraft called (MR-1A Mercury Redstone 210A) weighing 15 ton. The missile soared to a height of 45 km. XNUMX minutes and XNUMX seconds later the cell landed near the Bahamas and was brought aboard an aircraft carrier.
Mercury 2
On January 31.1.1961, 2, the Mercury XNUMX spacecraft was launched with a chimpanzee named "Ram" for a suborbital flight. The purpose of the flight was to test whether it is possible to return a spaceship even in the event that the astronauts lose consciousness. The monkey was tied to a couch made of fiberglass. Electrodes were attached to the monkey's body to check heart rate, blood pressure, breathing and body temperature. The monkey was photographed by cameras. The radio signals received from the spacecraft proved that the monkey fulfilled the duties assigned to him. The monkey's job was to pull two levers, on the right lever when a white light is on and on the left lever when a blue light is on.
The speed of the spacecraft was 335 meters per second greater than planned. The monkey was in a state of weightlessness for 6.6 minutes in place 49 and the force acting on it was g3 greater than planned. The flight lasted 16 minutes. Despite the higher than usual figures, the monkey returned to Israel safe and sound. The spacecraft landed in the Caribbean Sea 200 km from the planned landing site.
Mercury 3
On April 25.4.1961, 3, Mercury XNUMX was launched by an Atlas missile with a mannequin in it. This doll was built so that it consumed oxygen like a human and released adequate amounts of carbon dioxide and heat. This is a facility designed to test the cell's survival system.
The purpose of the flight was to perform a long-range suborbital flight. A few days before the launch, the mission was changed to a full orbital flight with the distance from the ground being 160 km. The spacecraft was supposed to land in the Atlantic Ocean.
A flaw in the rocket's inertial system did not give it the necessary inclination to put the spacecraft into the correct orbit. A huge jet of light was seen in the missile and an explosion was heard. The safety officer had to activate the self-destruct system about 40 minutes after launch.
"A review of the astronauts and their missions on Mercury"
Alan Shepherd
On May 5.5.1961, 200, the USA launched Alan Shepard on a suborbital flight. Shepard was launched in the Mercury spacecraft by a Redstone rocket. After Shepard reached an altitude of 15 km, the spacecraft was detached from the rocket and landed in the sea. The duration of the flight is 22 minutes and 1998 seconds. Shepard died in XNUMX. (LAccording to the definitions of the Federation for Astronautics, Shepard should have been considered the first astronaut because Yuri Gagarin fell from his capsule and did not land inside it on the ground)
Virgil Grissom
Virgil Grissom, like Alan Shepherd, launched into suborbital flight. The launch was made on 21.7.1961/240/15 using a Redstone missile. When the spacecraft was at an altitude of 37 km, it returned to Earth and landed. The flight lasted XNUMX minutes and XNUMX minutes. During the landing, a number of problems arose which almost caused Grissom's death. The moment the spacecraft reached the water, its door opened due to a short circuit. The door should have opened later Grissom, who was also prepared for such a case, did not lose his temper and jumped into the water to fill up with water. Grissom almost drowned and he was saved at the last second. The spaceship itself sank with all its valuable equipment. Grissom was killed in 1967 in the explosion of the Apollo 1 spacecraft on the launch pad
John Glenn
After 10 postponements, John Glenn was launched on 20.2.1962 for a 5-hour journey in which he circled the earth 3 times in a spacecraft called 7Friendship. The spacecraft was launched by an Atlas rocket and weighed 1935 kg. It circled the Earth in an orbit whose distance from the ground was between 262-161 km and at a speed of over 28,000 km/h. During the flight, Glenn saw "luminous particles" that confused the the scientists.
On the third lap there was panic among the ground crew when the tracking station in Australia picked up telemetry signals indicating that the front heat shield had come loose. There was concern that the shield might be released completely at the beginning of the entry into the atmosphere. This means that the spacecraft could burn up with a squadron. And yet something could be done. The braking rockets were attached by straps attached to the spacecraft as usual, the astronaut had to release these rockets after they finished their job. Now Glenn was told not to release the rockets when the intention was to prevent the release of the shield. The rockets worked fine (Glenn later said the thrust was so strong he felt as if they were about to be pushed back to Hawaii). During the atmospheric reentry that occurred across the US, he stabilized the spacecraft as best he could. Glenn saw hot fragments of the containment rocket casing fly past the spacecraft window. All indications were that the heat shield was properly attached and the false warning was given due to a fault in the warning system. After When Glenn was brought aboard the aircraft carrier that took him out of the ocean, the technicians had difficulty opening the door Had to blow up the door with a special explosive device.John Glenn is still alive)
Scott Carpenter
On May 24.5.1962, 7, astronaut Scott Carpenter was launched into Earth orbit to perform a series of experiments that John Glenn had begun. This spaceship, named Aurora 1925, weighed 3 kg, circled the Earth 4 times for 56 hours and 161 minutes in an orbit that is 269-XNUMX km from the ground.
For some reason, Karftner used a wasteful flight method already in the first lap. This method consumes more fuel than necessary. The fuel supply was being wasted at an alarming rate and the experiments were delayed. After the fuel supply dropped to 45%, Carpenter was instructed to switch to manual steering. When it was preparing to land, the automatic device designed to tilt the spacecraft at the right angle for entering the atmosphere malfunctioned. Karftner tried to fix this by combining manual steering and "fly by wire" – semi-automatic flight. 5 seconds later he activated the braking rockets manually with 15% of the fuel remaining in the automatic tank. Due to the delay in the activation of the braking rockets and the incorrect angle of entry into the atmosphere, the spacecraft landed 400 km away from the planned landing site. 40 minutes after landing, Carpenter was brought to safety with his precious cargo.Still alive according to Wikipedia)
Walter Shira
Walter Shira was launched into Earth orbit on October 3.10.1962, 7 in the Mercury spacecraft named Sigma 6. He circled the Earth 9 times in 13 hours and 283 minutes, in an orbit that is 161-1962 km from the ground. The weight of the spacecraft is 5 kg . An automatic ignition mechanism was installed in the launch vehicle. Thanks to this, those 10 seconds were omitted between the activation of the lighter and the emission of the flame and the plumes of smoke from the missile. XNUMX seconds after liftoff the rocket began to roll (rotation around its longitudinal axis) and for a few seconds it seemed that it was necessary to activate the fixed escape tower at the top of the spacecraft. The rocket stabilized and the entry into the national orbit was a complete success.
Shira received instructions to save as much fuel as possible and to let the spaceship glide freely for about a third of its flight so that the fuel saved would be useful to him when he applied the brakes before entering the atmosphere. Contact with the ground was stopped for a while in order to save electrical energy. When he finished the first lap, the degree of heat in his body rose above the desired level. In the second lap he managed to regulate the heat in his suit. It was the only malfunction of the entire flight. In his flight, Shira noticed white particles, a kind of "fireflies" similar to those that John Glenn saw in his flight. Shira had two cameras attached, one for photographing the clouds in black and white and the other for color photographs of the earth's reliefs.
A few months before the launch, in July, the USA detonated a hydrogen bomb at high altitude and as a result a new radiation belt was created around the Earth. If the spacecraft had entered this belt Shirah would have been injured and died.Walter Shira died in 2007)
Gordon Cooper
The last flight in the Mercury program was on May 15.5.1963, 7. Gordon Cooper manned a spacecraft named 14.5Faith. According to the plan, the launch date was supposed to be on 20. Two malfunctions led to the postponement of the launch on the day, one in the diesel engine of one of the facilities at Kif Kennedy and the other in the radar system on the island of Bermuda. In the first hours of the launch, Cooper encountered a number of minor difficulties such as the thermostat in his space suit. This malfunction disturbed his rest and he was unable to sleep as planned. This glitch was later fixed. In the last three laps, the tension increased among those people involved in the flight. On the 15th lap, a malfunction occurred in the automatic control mechanism of the spacecraft. A green light turns on unexpectedly. This light only turns on when the spacecraft enters the atmosphere at the end of its flight. The spacecraft continued its flight without incident and it turned out that the entire system related to this light went wrong. During the next lap a short occurred and the automatic stabilization system was left without electrical supply. Cooper had to manually activate the braking rockets meant to bring him back to Earth, instead of the spacecraft being powered by a radio signal from Earth. On the third lap, Cooper released a 22 cm diameter ball equipped with a strong reflector from his chamber. The ball entered a different trajectory. On the fourth lap, Cooper noticed the flickering light. The spacecraft had television cameras that transmitted images from the spacecraft's mirror, but they were not clear. Cooper circled the Earth 34 Once in a time of 20 hours and 267 minutes in a route whose distance from the ground is 161-1814 km. The weight of the spaceship is XNUMX kg.Cooper died in 2004)
