Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1962-02-21
Continued From Page Al

"think"-"it was a false indi-
cation. However. we didn't
know"-he emphasized know
this at the time"
A decision had to be made
and on this decision would
rest the life of Col. Glenn. And
the decision could not be made
at leisure; friendship 7 already
was losing altitude, nearing the
top of earth's blanket of air
travelling well over 4 miles per
second.
At 2:26 pm, as the capsule
passed over Corpus Christi
Tex, a ground station there
told Col. Glenn to retain YOU
retro package" This meant
that instead of performing the
normal post-firing maneuver Of
discarding his expended SLOW
down rockets, he should keer
them intact on the front of the
capsule. This order was re-
peated two minutes later when
the Spacecraft came within
range of Mercury control here
Listeners at the Cape knew
the order was out of the ordi-
nary. It was only later that they
found out why it was given
Cool Heads Prevail
Why? Because the retro pack.
age is fixed to the outside Of
the capsules blunt face-over
the heat shield-with remov-
able clamps. The men in Mer-
curry control reasoned that il
the retro package remained in
place, the heat shield could not
fall off even if the indicator
light were telling the truth.
1t was of GOODNESS such as
this-and such as Col. Glenn's
willingness to fly his capsule
when the automatic controls
broke down-.that the sue
ceSSful Mercury-Atlas 6 mis-
sion was made.
Trouble in the capsule steer
ing system showed up just at
the end of the first orbit. Col
Glenn reported that the tiny
gas jets controlling the space
crafts attitude we're not act
ing properly.
One set of these jets controls
pitch" the motion similar to
that Of a ship plunging through
heavy seas. Another controls
roll" the motion of a ship buff
feted by seas abeam. And the
third controls "yaw," the slew
ing motion of an automobile in
a skid.
The yaw jets were giving
trouble. Col. Glenn said that
the automatic system seemed
to make the capsule yaw right
about one degree a second
through an arc of 20 degrees
Then, automatic correcting de-
vices would bring the capsule
back left to the straight-ahead
position. Then the yawing would
start again.
Position Critical
There was nothing imme-
diately dangerous about the
maneuver, but it could have
serious repercussions at the
end of the flight. Col. Glenn's
position in space at re-entry
had to be fixed very precisely,
and this had to be done by ma
nipulation of these same gas
jet controls. If gas were wasted
early in the flight, the result
might be fatal later.
Steeled by years as a test
pilot, Col. Glenn accommo-
dated himself to the unex-
pected. He elected to "fly by
wire" jargon for controlling the
capsule himself through the
autopilot rather than allowing
the automatic system to main
tain control.
All through the second orbit,
the 10 ground stations of Prof.
ect Mercury watched intently
Then,at 12::46 pm, with the
space craft at the place where
a decision had to be taken, Mer-
curry Flight Controller Chris
topher Columbus Chris" Kraft
made up his mind.
1--WE have made the decision
at this time to go for the third
orbit" came an announcement
from the Mercury control CEN
ter.
The rest is history. Col.
Glenn flew by wire another
$4,000 miles, survived re-entry
and splashed into the seas only
five miles from the United
States Navy Destroyer Noa.
He was picked up, still inside
his capsule, and gently lowered
to the deck of the destroyer
at 1904 pm. after 5 hours and
II minutes at the mercy of
the elements, 434 hours of
this time weightleSs in space.
Trouble With Hatch
And then came the final
mechanical difficulty-one that
could have been serious in the
water. But now, aboard ship,
it was only ludicrous.
Col. Glenn was supposed to
come out "easy egress" ESCAPE
hatch at the top of the cap
sule, but all the brain and
Drawn of the United States
Navy outside-aSsisted by the
aStronaut himself from within
could not get the easy egress
hatch open.
So they blew off the side
hatch at 1921 pm, and a min
ute later Col. Glenn crawled
out.
He comes here Friday morn
ing to meet President Kennedy,
who will stop over en- route to
Palm Beach for the week end.