Evening star., 1961-07-17
MERCURY
Countdown Starts for New U. S. Firing
Of Manned Rocket Into Space
Continued From First Page

specific duties for which they've
trained for months.
If all goes well in the prep
arations today and If weather
conditions remain favorable,
the last section of the count
down will begin at midnight.
At l am. tomorrow, lights
will go on in the crew quarters
on the second floor Of the
Mercury hangar
Like men going to work all
over the world. the astronaut
will shave, shower, brush his
hair and have breakfast. An
odd meal, it may include straw
berries. skim milk, cookies and
possibly steak.
At lao am. there will be a
pre-flight physical.
Medical Sensors will be placed
on his body against tiny marks.
All seven astronauts are tat
tooed with tiny Ks.
Then the astronaut climbs
into his pressure suit.
He rides to the launching
site in a medical van.
The suit gets a final check.
Up the gantry tower in an
elevator
Careful About Suit
He climbs through the hatch
Of the Mercury capsule. He
exercises great care. A bump
against the hatchway could
tear the pressure suit, ruin it.
He settles in the capsules
couch. Restraint straps are
secured.
The hatch closes.
Around him are all the aids
he'll have in flight, more than
he hopes he'll need.
They include a personal para
chute for use in an extreme
emergency while the capsule is
still within the earth's atmos-
phere. Instrument faces in
clude an altimeter to tell the
capsules height.
A camera peers at him. 1t
will operate from launch
through recovery.
He awaits the blast-off for
trip to an altitude of 116
miles and distance downrange :
Of 299 miles. The height would
top Comdr. Shepard's by a
mile; the distance downrange
would be three miles shorter.
The variations are accomplish
ed by changing the launching
angle.
The flight and recovery may
take about Is minutes. The
astronaut will be the second
American in space. His chances
Of survival will be roughly the
same as Comdr. Shepard's were.
BlockhOuse to Be Packed
At the time of the launching /
some IS scientists and techni- I
clans will be packed into the
control blockhouse about so
yards from the 78,000-pound- /
thrust Redstone missile with its
two-ton space capsule. ]
None, however, will have a
more exacting job than DR..
Kurt DebuS, director, launch
operations directorate. Marshall I
Space Flight Center, Huntsville, :
Ala.
Despite the tons of electronic !
equipment to detect anything
wrong, there will be eight Sec I
onds during which DR.. Debus, h
German-born rocket expert,
will simply look at the flames :
billowing from the Redstone's +
engines and make up his mind !
whether all is going we'll. $
If DR.. Debus detects any ,
signs Of thrust decay he will
push a button which will send
the man-carrying capsule 1000 /
feet into the air and then par J
achute him to safety.
The weather outlook for to-
morrow is good. The report
said an easterly wave in the
Caribbean was on a course that :
would keep it several hundred :
miles south of the proposed !
flight path.
Comdr. Shepard's flight was !
postponed three days because
Of bad weather.
The aircraft carrier Ran
dolph, flagship of large fleet !
Of recovery vessels, sailed from :
Mayport, Fla, yesterday, for :
the intended impact zone 80 :,
miles northeast Of Grand !;
Bahama Island. A total of five
destroyers and several planes /;
will be stationed along the :
planned capsule route. )
NASA today nnounce
these assignments for the as
tronauts other than Capt. i
Grissom. a r
Comdr. Shepard, at the cap I
sule communication post in the /
control center, keeping in con-
slant radio voice contact with 6
Capt. Grissom. viii be backed ]
UP by Scott Carpenter. !
Donald Slayton will be at the
communication post in the
blockhouse and will maintain {
voice contact with Capt. Girls s
som when he is in the capsule t
before the launch. Backing up {
Capt. Slayton will be Walter
Schirra. &
Gordon Cooper will observe '
the launching while flying high ,
over the cape in an F-106 Jet.
i
Lightning Hits