Evening star., 1962-01-21
Astronout G|enn's Big Moment Set
For 3 Circuits Of Globe Wednesday
BY WILLIAM HINES
star Science Writer

SAhA 1AS "CCA.
Next Wednesday morning, II
present schedules hold, the 40
year-old Marine lieutenant
colonel will be boosted into
earth orbit by q huge Atlas in
tercontinental missile. Four
and half hours-and $4,000
miles-later, he will be fished
from the Atlantic Ocean to be
acclaimed as Americas first
orbital spaceman.
1t is a foregone conclusion
that some sort Of presidential
honor will be conferred on Col.
Glenn who now makes his
home In Arlington. If his mis-
sion is q success. Whatever its
nature, it could hardly be less
elaborate than the full-scale
Washington welcome accorded
Comdr. Alan B. Shepard after
the first suborbital flight last
May.
Earliest possible moment for
blastoff In Col. Glenn's momen-
tous flight Is 1880 am. (EST)
Wednesday. The launching can
be delayed that day until 1890
pm, after which it must be
put off at least until 7:3o am.
Thursday.
Three Times Around Globe
If the launching occurs be-
tween 7:30 and $50 am. and
all goes well in flight, Col.
Glenn will 60 three times
around the world before being
brought back at a point about
200 miles north Of Puerto Rico.
If delays cause the launch
ing to take place between about
$50 and II am, the astro-
naut will be allowed to make
only two circuits Of the globe.
His splash" zone will then be
about 500 miles southeast of
Bermuda.
And If the shot cannot come
off until after II o'clock, Col.
Glenn's ride will be only one
orbit long. He will then splash
almost due east Of Bermuda,
about 500 miles from that
island.
Navy rescue and recovery
teams will be on hand in all I
three drop zones, just in case. !
The bulk of the recovery force \
will be concentrated off Puerto
Rico, which is the primary
landing area.
Ground Control Arranged t
Launching and central con- C
troll point will be Cape Canav- S
ersl, Fla. A world wide com =
municationS and tracking net o
work will feed into the Cape !,
through a computing facility a
at Goddard Space Flight Gen. n
ter. Greenbelt, Md. r
Although Col. Glenn will
have a modicum of control c
over his space capsule, primary b
control will rest with ChriSto- S
pher Columbus ("Chris'')
Kraft, flight director Of the
National Aeronautics and Space
Administrations Project Mer-
curry. Mr.. Kraft will be in
Mercury control at Canaveral, =
with battery Of aides and an
elaborate electronic map dis {
play to help him keep track Of !.
the capsule.
Col. Glenn will be travelling :,
higher and faster than any y
Arnerican-and all but two :,
RusSians-have ever gone be- =
fore. His altitude will vary be- >
tween 100 and $50 miles, and >
his speed will average 1880 "
miles an hour while he Is in !,
orbit. One trip around the .
world will take about 90 min ,
uteS. *,., Z
Route Same as Enos
The flight path Of the Mer- b
curry capsule will be identical
to that followed last November h
20 by Enos the astrochimp. It {
will take the aStronaut east /!
ward across the Atlantic, then A
southeast over Africa and the
Indian Ocean, across Australia S
and the South Pacific to Ha- c
waii, and then over the West h
Coast Of Mexico and the south d
ern United States. :
If the flight goes three Or b
bits, Col. Glenn will be high q
over the Pacific when small t
showdown rockets are fired. n
These will drop the speed below
the minimum for orbit, and the
capsule will streak into the at
mosphere. Twenty minutes af- {
ter the rockets are fired, the 8
capsule should parachite gen. s
tly into the Atlantic. I
Even in the day of jet air r
travel, it is hard to conceive h
the speed at which Col. Glenn a
will be travelling. In orbit, he c
will be going Just a little less S
than 800 miles a minute. AS
an example. at one point in his S
trip, Col. Glenn will go from S
Ell Paso, Tex. to Charleston, +
S. c. in six minutes. $
No Speed Sensation !.
Despite this rapid rate, Col.
Glenn will have no sensation
OF speed. What we will notice L
after he gets into orbit is the O
feeling Of "weightlesSness." His
subjective sensations and his S
physical reactions to this phe- q
nomenon are items of intense t
interest to space scientists. No t
American has been weightless t
longer than about five minutes, b
and the medical data from the S
Russian orbital flights has not s
been complete enough to be T
regarded as conclusive. /
The sensation known as |
weishtlesSness-alSo called E
YArA- 1yify, ie ~ r