Sep 12

Space Rocket History #29 – Mercury-Atlas 5 With Enos

Following the successful suborbital missions of Allan Shepard and Gus Grissom, NASA believed the Mercury capsule was ready for an orbital mission.  But, there was a problem, the Redstone booster did not have the power to place the Mercury capsule into orbit.  The Atlas booster had the power to put the capsule in orbit but not the confidence of NASA.  By September of 1961 Four launches of the mercury-atlas had been made with only a 50 percent success rate…

Tribute to Space Chimps

Tribute to Chimps

Enos

Enos

Atlas Missle

Atlas Missle

Launch

Launch

Mercury 5

Mercury 5

By Dave

By Dave

Aug 29

Space Rocket History #27 – Mercury-Redstone 4 – Liberty Bell 7 with Gus Grissom

Mercury-Redstone 4 was the fourth mission in the Mercury-Redstone series and the second U.S. manned suborbital spaceflight. The mission was essentially a repeat of Alan Shepard’s Freedom 7 flight.   So why was it necessary to launch another sub-orbital mission?  Why not proceed with an orbital flight to match the Soviet Vostok 1?  Among other things the U.S. needed more space experience to corroborate the “Man-in-Space” concept.  Also the Redstone was the only booster NASA had that was approved for manned launches.  The Atlas booster was available but not ready.  Atlas was capable of putting a Mercury Capsule into orbit, but it had been launched three times with unmanned capsules, and it had exploded on 2 of the 3 attempts.

MR-4 Launch

MR-4 Launch

Gus Grissom

Gus Grissom

1137px-Grissom_prepares_to_enter_Liberty_Bell_7_61-MR4-76

Ready to Go

MR-4 Hatch

MR-4 Hatch

513px-Grissom_lifted_from_water_61-MR4-82

Rescue

Liberty Bell 7

Liberty Bell 7

Aug 08

Space Rocket History #24 – Mercury Redstone Test Flights – Ham in a Can

The objectives of the Mercury Project, were as follows:
1. Place a manned spacecraft in orbital flight around the earth.
2. Investigate man’s performance capabilities and his ability to function in the environment of space.
3. Recover the man and the spacecraft safely.
After the objectives were established for the project, a number of guidelines were created to insure that the most expedient and safest approach for attainment of the objectives was followed. The basic guidelines that were established are as follows:
1. Existing technology and off-the-shelf equipment should be used wherever practical.
2. The simplest and most reliable approach to system design would be followed.
3. An existing launch vehicle would be employed to place the spacecraft into orbit.
4. A progressive and logical test program would be conducted.

MerCapEscSys

Escape System

MerCapInt

Capsule

3AxisHandController

Hand Controller

mercury1

Capsule Interior

Assembly

Assembly

Parachute Canister

Parachute Can

MR-1

MR-1

Ham

Ham

Ham

Ham

Jul 04

Space Rocket History #19 – Little Joe: Mercury’s Test Vehicle

“The designers made the Little Joe booster assembly to approximate the same performance that the Army’s Redstone booster would have with the capsule payload. But in addition to being flexible enough to perform a variety of missions, Little Joe could be made for about one-fifth the basic cost of the Redstone, would have much lower operating costs, and could be developed and delivered with much less time and effort. And, unlike the larger launch vehicles, Little Joe could be shot from the existing facilities at Wallops Island.”

Little_Joe_6_launch_10-4-1959_from_Wallops_Is._Virginia

Little Joe 6 Launch

480px-Little_Joe_on_launcher_at_Wallops_Island_-_GPN-2000-001883

Little Joe on the Mobile Launcher

Monkey_Sam_Before_The_Flight_On_Little_Joe_2

Sam the Monkey

S61-01673

Mounting the Capsule

Little Joe: Mercury’s First Steps from James Duffy on Vimeo.