davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Evening star., 1961-07-23

I switched back to my UHF
radio again and started my
normal reporting procedures.
The retro rocket package had
jettisoned right on time and ]
glanced down into my periscope
just for a few seconds about
this time, and ] saw two Of the
retro rockets floating around
underneath the capsule and ]
could see them in the periscope,
but I never did see the booster.
We had programmed in q
time to look for the booster, but
evidently it was down below me
most of the time and I never
did get q view Of 1t.
About this time the periscope
retracted on schedule and 1t
came time to pitch up to re-
entry attitude to get ready to
make my re-entry back into
atmosphere, and I pitched to
my 40-degree re-entry attitude
and started looking out the
window again to see stars, but
I wasn't able to see any again.
The sky was very black, but
I think maybe the reason ]
couldn't, the sun was shining
in from sort Of behind me, and
there was, an aluminized sur
face at the base Of the wind
shield and this was reflecting
into the cockpit quite badly,
and this might very well have
prevented me from seeing any
stars. :. u. :. --.....,.s, =, 4.
Then from there on we went
into re-entry to the go build
up, and I got the .05-G light
and we have an indicator that
senses five hundredthS of a G.,
which is less than any Of us
can feel, Of course. I got this
light, and knew the re-entry
was getting started. and so ]
saw the G's starting to build
and checked the accelerometer
and I only had half a G at this
time. I had been through this
weightless period and evidently
I felt the first increment Of q
that came on.
Then I went back to check
ing some instruments, and
looking out the window, and
the next time I reported any
G's was at &C and I called
them at 8, 8, and up to 10, and
I had about 10.2 GS on the re-
entry. Then they came off.
This is very smooth during
this time, no buffeting. There
is a loud, or rather loud. and
I am not sure how loud it was,
but there was q roar that was
quite evident coming back
through this phase Of the
FLIGHT
Evening star., 1961-07-23
By the Associated Press

A. partial tert of Capt.
Virgil E. Grisson's netoS con-
ference yesterday at Cape
CGnGUerGI, Fla, on his flight
into space:
= Capt. Grissom: Before I get
started today telling you a few
of the details or as many Of the
details as we can cover Of my
recent flight, I would like to
pay homage to some Of the peo-
ple without whom we just
wouldn't be able to make these
flights, and these are the ladies
sitting on my right, starting
with Mrs. Layton. Would you
stand, please?
Mrs. Carpenter. and then the
two Cooper girls, and Mrs.
Cooper. Mrs. Shepard, whom
you have seen many times. Will
you stand, please? And her
daughter. And Annie Glenn and
her two fine children, and Mrs.
Schirra.
There are some other people
Who are pretty important to
this scheme, but I know you
have seen those guys a couple
Of times, so let them sit. -
) Okay. To start with, we might
/ as well start out with launch
and go through some of the
things that I thought were
rather interesting on the flight,
and, Of course, the first thing
was lift-off when the rocket
actually lifts off and you hear
the noise and you feel the
thrust and the thing starts to
move, and the G'S gradually
build up.
The first thing that occurred,
really. I. think, that would be
Of interest to all of you is the
vibration that occurs just
about $4,000 feet as we start
going through mach-1. That
was a vibration that caused
al (aStronaut Alan Shepard,
.jr) a little bit Of a problem on
his flight. We have changed
the capsule some, and put in
some dampening material and
changed the thermodynamic
firing so the viberation that I
received wasn't nearly as bad
as what AL had. 1t was there,
but there wasn't anything to
be concerned about, and I
could see all Of my instruments
clearly, and I could communi-
cate through it, and so this is
one problem that I think we
have shown here that we have
licked.
Evening star., 1961-07-23

Mercury Astronaut John H
Glenn, jr., and family lead q
quiet life in Arlington and are
generally not bothered by
curiosity seekers, but they get
lots Of unusual mail.
The back-up pilot for Fri
days space flight dropped in on
a conference of Presbyterian
young people near Cape Ca
naveral a few days before the
launching. John North, 16, Of
Severna Park, Md, attended
the conference.
The youth said Col. Glenn
told them that since he quipped
he wanted to go into space
because 1t might be the closest
he would ever get to God he
has received tracts and litera-
ture from many church groups
Evening star., 1961-07-23

Of gravity until they reached
1912 times his own weight. n,
When the first small drogue
parachute emerged. Capt. Girls
som said: II heard the drogue
fire and I saw the drogue bios
som. This made me feel good.
I knew I was going to get a
good main chute. The main
chute deployed at 1000 feet,
maybe a little, under. 3
1T was the most comforting
part of the flight. There was
one small rip, triangular, about
six inches. There was another
small hole about the size Of
a quarter"
Then, Capt. Grissom added,
'"The landing shock was not
bad. The capsule rolled on
its left side and all I could see
out the window was water" j..
Slowly the capsule righted
itself. he reported, and then he
jettisoned the reserve para
chute to give more stability to
the craft.
With the capsule riding COM
fortably, ne contacted the hell
copter pilot and told him to
stand by while he completed
his switch charts. Then he
took off his helmet, the flight
over.
Near the end Of his uues-
tioning, Capt. GrisSom was
asked when he expected to
return to work:
Tomorrow morning at 8
o'clock" he said.
Capt. Grissom plans to spend
a quiet evening with his wife
and a few friends tonight.
Evening star., 1961-07-23
Heard Rockets Fire

I could see the tail off OF the
rocket, a little light, and could
see it keep right on going. With
all the speed we had, I have no
idea where it went, but it really
took off and went, and this is
very tempering. This is one
of the parts of the flight that
we are most concerned about,
being sure that rocket goes, be-
cause our parachutes are right
under it. We have to get rid
of it. This is the first indi-
cation we have that the flight
is going to go good.
When it left, I felt good.
After the escape rocket leaves,
there is about a 10-second
period before we cut loose from
the booster, and when this
occurs, the clamp ring releases
and the power degrees fires and
shoves the capsule away from
the booster. There was no
doubt when this occurred.
There was a loud bang. I
heard the rockets fire and I
felt the push of the rockets,
pushing me away from the cap
sule-pushing me away from
the rocket, I am sorry.
Then the capsule stayed
steady for 5 seconds of damp
ening and then started a turn
around. At this time I was
still looking up into the black
sky. I couldn't see any more
stars. I only saw that one.
was still looking into the black
sky. I could see the sun shin
ing through the window. I was
a little concerned at this point.
I was afraid the sun was going
to come right across my face
and possibly blind me because
there was a very distinct shaft
of light coming into the cockpit
and sort Of came across my
suit. It didn't really get Close
to my face and then the hori-
zon came into view with the
earth. This is the thing that
was really, really fascinating
This was-I don't know how to
describe it, but the earth was
very bright.
Evening star., 1961-07-23
HERE'S DEFINITION
OF ASTRONAUTS
SPACE LANGUAGE

CAPE CANAVERAL,
Fla, (AP) - Astronaut
Virgil I. (Gus) Grissom
used many space age
terms not famimiar to the
general public at his news
conference yester day.
Here's a definition of some.
Drogue-A small para
chute which unfurls auto
matically at 81 1000 feet to
stabilize the space capsule.
G's-The pull Of gravity.
Mach 1.-The speed Of
sound.
Retro-ReverSe rockets
which slow the capsule be-
fore re-entry.
Roll, pitch, yaw-nauti-
cal terms; roll is side to
side; pitch, up and down;
yaw, a sideslip motion.
Evening star., 1961-07-23
Felt Real Good

From then on things were
again still normal on the path
to about $1,000 feet, I think it
was $1,000 but it may have
been higher than that, and !
started seeing contrails out Of
the window ..
Today I checked with one
Of the pilots. in the recovery
airplaneS, and he said that he
could see these contrails that
started very high, and see
them a long way down. In fact,
this is the way he spotted the
capsule.
The next event that occurred
was blue shirt department. and
I could hear the drogue motor
fire and see the drogue chute
pull right. out and blossom, and
this made me feel real good
because I knew with this drogue
out that in all probability
was going to get a good main
chute and this was the next
thing to worry about, the main
chute deploy.
AS the drogue deployed, I got
q small &c" buildup there. but
it was just comforting; that
was the only way I could de-
scribe it.
We proceeded rapidly or
down to the main chute aiti-
tude, which was deployed al
about 1000 feet or slightly be-
low, and as the main chute
came out I could see it come
out >. I saw the chute blossom
out into the full chute then
And through the window
could see about rs per cent ot
the chute, which, again, wa.
one Of the most comforting
parts of the flight, to see that
and ! knew I was in good shape
then.
The chute was very nearly
perfect. There was one small
rip in it, a little triangular rip
about six inches on the side
and another small hole about
the size Of a quarter, on the
side. So this made me fee
pretty good.
Coming down the chute
then, I went ahead and mad,
the normal report that I hac
planned to make, reading of
Evening star., 1961-07-23
Couldn't See Booster

At this time it didn't really
seem like I was 100 miles up
Because the Cape was very
distinct. I could see Merritt
Island, the Banana River, In
dian River. I could see the
Cape moving on down south o1
us here, and again I was rath-
er fascinated. I went ahead
and did the things that I had
programmed to do, such as
arming the retro rocket, retro
package jettison, and switch
ing to grade command control
system, and switching to HF
radio. And I switched to HF,
and I tried to report the tre-
mendous view I had, but evil
IDENTIFY no one was reading me
or at least no one back at the
Cape here was reading me, sc
Evening star., 1961-07-23
Lending No Problem

|. We were in q good position
to take it, and 1t was certainly
no problem, the landing. / was
already sure Of. from AIS flight,
Of course. s'.'.
The capsule hit sort Of on it,
left side and fell over on it,
left side: The parachute com.
partment, on top, went com.
pletely under the water, an6
out the window all I could SCI
was water. The reserve 'chutC
is up in this area, which sort
Of tends to hold the capsule
down When :. I coult
tell that the tower was com.
pletely out Of the water, I re-
jected the reserve chute, al1C
the tower very rapidly, withir
q period Of 20 or 80 seconds
righted itself to a safe posi-
ton, and the wave heights wert
very small and the capsule rid
ing comfortably at this time
I felt I was in very good condi'
ton. / had already been II
contact with the helicopter'
that were on their way to picI
me up, so I asked them tI
stand by for O. few minutes
while I made q chart of switch
positions and quantities ailt
this sort Of thing that go right
on back to the capsule, to thu
Cape here.
After I got this done actu.
ally, before I started that
took off my helmet, unstrapped
myself, disconnected every.
thing except my one suit of in.
ner clothes which was provid.
ing me with cooling. Every.
thing else was disconnected
except accommodations to thu
helmet. I disconnectedsthe hel'
met >. and rolled up the necl
dam so that If I did go out, L
anything occurred. I would al
least float. That was the best
thing I did all day.
After I made my-after J
finished the switch chart,
called the helicopter and tolt
him I was ready to come out
And as soon rs he had
hold Of the capsule and wal
ready for me to come out. tc
give me q call at that time, and
I would power down the cap
sule, take off my helmet, and
blow the hatch.
Evening star., 1961-07-23
Answers Questions

I think that Is about all I can
have the time to say about the
flight. I will be glad to enter
tain any questions at this time.
@. Is it interesting up there,
Capt. GriSsom?
A. Every bit.
@. (Inaudible.)
A. I was asked If 1t was in
teresting up there as Com
mander Shepard said 1t was,
and it certainly Is. I recon-
mend the trip to everyone.
@. Qnaudible.)
A. I was asked If the hatch
could possibly have gone off IN
space. I don't think so. I think
this was an operational prob
lem. although we are not sure
at this time. We are prepared
for the hatch to come off In
space. I think probably if ]
hadn't pulled the safety pin
maybe it wouldn't; Aave gone
I don't know. But this is some
thing we still have to investi-
gate.
@. Capt. Grissorl, did you feel
you were in danger at any time
during your flighte
A. Did I feel ! was in danger
at any time during the flight
or in the water? Well, I was
scared a good portion Of the
time. I guess this is q pretty
good indication.
@. You were what?
A. Scared. Okay?
@. In the radio transcript
there is mention about not be-
ing able to get q door pin back
in. Would you like to explain
to us what this is about?
Evening star., 1961-07-23

very round horizon, and very
light, wispy Cirrus clouds, and
then there was a band around
the earth of, starting with the
sort Of a light blue at the bottom
and fading into a darker blue
and then there is a very dusty
edge probably going from blue
to black and then very black
every place. There was very
black sky all over. This is an
even border all around the part
Of the horizon that I could see.
The horizon at this time was on
the order of 600 miles from me
and little later it got up as
far as 800 miles from me as ]
reached apogee. I could see quite
a wide arc around the earth.
I started my pitch and yaw
movement to check out the
manual control system and ]
was so fascinated by this view
out the window that I had diff
ficulty controlling - difficulty
concentrating on the instru-
ments. I kept wanting to peek
out the window, which Is what
I did. I probably did not do as
good a job Of controlling as ]
would have liked to.
7 think it was probably be-
cause I was dividing my atten-
tion between the window and
the instruments, and maybe
there was a slight problem with
the control system. We had one
nozzle that was sticking open
and this may have caused me
some problem. But we will get
our PM records and get them
deciphered and maybe we can
decide whether 1t was me or the
control system or both.
After the yaw maneuver, the
next thing we came to really
was retrofire. I made a yaw
left maneuver to look down the
southern tip, the coast Of Flor
ida, to the southern tip Of Flor
ida, hoping to see Miami, Cuba,
and maybe the Yucatan penin-
sula. But things were quite
hazy. The high Cirrus clouds
obScured most of the land. I
did see what was evidently part
OF the coast Of Florida here,
just a bit Of it, but not enough
to identify any portion of it.
Evening star., 1961-07-23
Backward FEELING

AL gave me my mark at 4
minutes and 80 seconds to re-
turn to retro attitude, and I
was having a little bit of diff
Guilty getting back into atti-
tude. It seems like the capsule
was moving slower than ]
wanted to move. But we got
back pretty close when AL gave
me the retro fire, and we fired
1t manually. There is no doubt
when the retros fire, either. Up
to this time I had a distinct
feeling I was riding back
wards. I am not sure whether
this was something that I had
built up in my mind before
hand or whether I was sensing
the earth receding or what it
was. I can't define it right now.
But when the rockets fired it
was a very distinct feeling that
I changed direction and was
going forward.
. I intended to look out the
window as I controlled retro
fire, and I was looking out the
window when the first one
fired, and I i'm m e diately
changed my reference to the
instruments inside. This /.
something I haven't been able
to explain to myself right now
why I went from the window
back inside to the instruments
But I controlled the retro fir.
ing and controlled it within
limits pretty well, I think.
AS soon as the retros haC
fired, I looked out the window
and Cape Canaveral was right
in front Of me, as clear as 9
beel, and it seemed like it was
a lot closer than it should have
| been.
Evening star., 1961-07-23

A. Yes. When an explosive
hatch is fired it goes about rs
feet. This is a hazard to any
one around the capsule when
they are working on it. getting
any Of us in on the gantry, or
is a hazard to recovery people
in case We should be injured
in the capsule and they have
to blow the hatch from the out
side. So we have two restraint
wires on the inside, soft iron
wires, that are hooked both to
the door and to the sill of the
capsule, so IL the door is ex-
ploded from the outside or
opened any time with these
wires on. the door goes about
18 inches and stops.
The soft iron wires stretch
and absorb the energy Of the
door and stop it close to the
capsule so that anyone around
wouldn't get hurt.
Our procedure is on the gan
try when they put the door on
we fasten these pins in so that
anyone working on the gantry
knows that they are safe If they
are back a little way from the
door.
Just prior to launch, Deck
gave me a call to take the pins
out at about five minutes prior
to launch so that If I wanted
to blow the hatch in flight II
would come clean and not be
attached to the capsule. These
are two little safety pins at
tached to the bottom of the
wire.
Then our procedure is after
the main chute is deployed on
re-entry to put these two pins
back in, so that any recovery
people who come to get us out
in case we are injured on land
ing are safe and will not be in
jued within IS feet.
After the chute came out, ]
had difficulty getting the pins
in, I couldn't physically see it,
Evening star., 1961-07-23

I was lying there all in busi-
ness and, pow, the hatch blew
up and I looked UP and saw
nothing but, blue sky and water
started to come in over the sill.
I. I tossed my helmet off. The
only. two moves { + remember
making was. tossing my helmet
off and getting ont. I don't re-
going out the door, but
the chopper pilot says that the
door came off Immediately, fol-
lowed by myself. It was almost
one I11otioa.s 4 4: . Il
without a doubt. that was the
biggest shock Of the, day to me,
to see that door go out. I went
out into the water. Luckily I
had the neck dam up. I felt ]
was in pretty good shape. ]
was floating quite high in the
water, about armpit high, be-
cause the suit does float quite
well with the neck dam on.
saw the helicopter there. 1t was
very close. He had already cut
the antenna, the antenna was
gone, and he was graphing for
the loop on top Of the capsule
and it was sinking rather
rapidly. It looked like to me like
he was having difficulty getting
hold of it, but actually he
wasn't. This was the first time
he tried to snag 1t. ...
I swan over to the capsule
about four or five feet away
and was going to maybe helr
him put the hook on. But be.
fore I got there, he actually hac
the thing hooked, and I saw
him lift his pole that the hook
was on and the hook dropped
off the pole, which is normal
but at this time it didn't look
normal to me, and I thought
we lost it again. The capsule
actually sank and went below
the water and the helicoptel
pulled 1t free. And as he pulled
1t up, I thought we are in good
shape, and we got it all, and he
will pick me up from the water
So the helicopter moved slightly
over the water,
Evening star., 1961-07-23

so I gave the call to the recov-
cry forces that this one pin
might not be in and to beware
@. At one point during the
flight, according to the tram
script. you said, There is a lot
Of stuff floating around up
here" Can you clarity this a
little bit?
Evening star., 1961-07-23
Pulled Safety Pin

Well, while he was coming
in, I decided to 60 ahead and
get q little head start on him
and took off the cover on the
detonator that blows the ex-
plosive hatch off and tossed
it down towards my feet. I then
pulled the safety pin that holds
the detonator out, which we
have to pull before we can
fire it, so while waiting for
him. I laid back down on, the
couch, and he gave me a call
that he was on. final, and !
knew that he would pick me
up in about Is seconds. -.
Evening star., 1961-07-23
Partial Text Of Capt Grissoms Report on Space Flight

and did get in close enough for
me to get hold of the sling and
then everything was pretty
good with me from then on.
They picked me right on up
and brought me on to Randolph
of course.
Evening star., 1961-07-23
GRIssoM
Astronout Reports
On Capsule Mishop

som was asked whether his
flight was as interesting as
Comdr. Shepard said it was.
''It certainly was" he replied,
"I'd recommend the trip to
anyone"
Capt. Grissom, clad in a dark
blue suit, white shirt and black
tie, opened the news confer
ence in the auditorium Of a
Cocoa Beach motel, with a
chronological account Of the 16
minutes rush into space atop
a Redstone rocket.
First you have noise and the
G'S (the forces Of gravity be-
gin to build UP and then there
is vibration at $4,000 feet when
you pass Mach (the speed Of
Sound)." Capt. Grissom said
the vibrations he underwent
were mot nearly as bad as AL
(Shepard) had"
Saw Single Star
This, he explained. was due
ito the fact that the capsule had
been modified and streamlined
where it hooked onto the Red
stone booster.
'This is one problem" Capt.
Grissom continued, II feel we
have licked"
At this point on his flight,
the astronaut went on, there
was nothing but blue sky rap
idly changing from blue to
pitch black. AS soon as it
turned black, there was q star
right in the middle of my win
dow-and I knew right then I
lost two steak dinners. Probably
have to pay off tonight"
Capt. Grissom had bet 1t. Col.
John H. Glenn, jr., his back
up pilot, that an aStronaut
would not be able to see stars
in flight. Col. Glenn paid off
when Comdr. Shepard failed
to report any.
So Capt. Grissom doubled
the bet on his flight. In brief,
Capt. Grissom bet he would not
see a star. And he did, though
he saw only one.
Only minutes afterwards,
Capt. Grissom reported, he
heard the rocket fired which
hurled Athe escape tower. The
tower was thrown to the right
of his position.
Sun Was Bright
"It was really comforting"
he said, because this was the
first indication the flight was
going good. You have to be
sure the rocket leaves for the
parachutes are located in a
compartment right under it,"
The poised young astronaut
said that at one point the sun
shone so brightly that he was
afraid it was going to blind
him.
The shaft of light brushed
across the lower edge Of his
suit but never reached his face
though reflection Of a piece
of aluminium at the base of
the window was a problem.
One impression he had dur
ing the flight was an odd one,
even for an astronaut.
II had the distinct feeling"
he said, II was riding back
wards. I can't define it. When
the capsule had changed di-
rection, I felt I was going for
ward. I can't explain it to my
self yet"
At the time he had this feel
ing, he was weightless in
space.
Saw the Cape
Right after the attitude con-
troll jets operated, Capt. Girls
som said he had his only good
view of the ground.
"I could see the cape right
In front and clear as a bell.
1t didn't seem was a hun
dred miles high. 1t was a lot
clearer than I thought it
should be-"
AS he re-entered the atmos-
phere, Capt. Grissom said the
flight was smooth with only a
gradual increase in the forces
Evening star., 1961-07-23

instruments. and giving my
condition to people that were
worried about me some place
or other, and as we approached
the water, I could see it coming
up through the periscope, go
was prepared for the landing
shock. This wasn't bad at all,
1t was a pretty good bump. but
nothing that would jaI, me OF
jar anyone or stun anyone Or
even daze you. It was just, i
good, solid thump. 4s.