Evening star., 1962-10-08
Schirro Sees No Barrier
To Longer Trips in Space
BY WILLIAM HINES
Star Science Writer


jr, felt no space sickness, no
bre eakoff phenomenon, no
queasiness, no uSeasiness" on
his nine-hour flight through
space last week.
Consequently, he believes the
human factor to be no bar to
more extensive space travel.
The 39-year-old Navy COM
mander made a preliminary
report yesterday on his flight
in the Mercury spacecraft
Sigma-7 last Wednesday.
He proved himself to be an
other of the new breed of fly
boys who can carry off a news
conference with the same
aplomb as a space flight.
Easily, almost conversation
ally. he told of his sensations
and experiences from the time
of launching to the moment of
recovery--a span Of time that
encompassed 100000 miles of
space travel.
"The railroad train that you
are sitting on really does move
out" Comdr. Schirra said of
the takeoff at S.15 AM. (EDT
on Wednesday.
Engineering Mission
Comdr. Schirra emphasized
that his mission was an engin-
eering flight, as opposed to the
trail-blazing three orbit adven-
lures of Astronauts John H.
Glenn, jr., and Malcolm Scott
Carpenter. He said the flight
proved out both man and ma
chine and opened the way for
longer missions in the Mer-
curry series.
Comdr. Schirra said that at
one point in his flight he COM
pletely cut himself off from
ground control.
To conserve the power supply
of his Sigma-7 spacecraft, he
said, be threw a switch cutting
off the electrical system which
would have allowed ground con-
troll stations to bring MIN out
of orbit in an emergency.
From the beginning" be
said. 81 wanted to turn off the
armed squib control boD,
which means that it is my
capsule and no one can bring
me back until I put the switch
back"
He left 1t off until Christo-
pher Kraft, Project Mercury
flight director, told him: Il
think you have proved our
point, old buddy"
Longer Flight Soon
Robert R. Gilruth, director
of the Manned Spacecraft Gem
ter of NASA, said the next
flight. an 1S-orbit mission
lasting "a hours, should be
ready for blastoff about late
February or early March.
He refused to say who the
next spaceman will be. The
only flight-rated man among
the original Mercury seven who
has not yet flown is Maj. Leroy
Gordon Cooper, 35.
Mai. Cooper, who was alter
nate pilot for Comdr. Schirra's
mission, sat in the back OF a
large commons room on the
campus of Rice University,
where the news conference
was held. With him were all
the other astronauts except
Alan B. Shepard. jr., who is
still en- route home from duty
in the Western Pacific aboard
the Mercury command ship
Rose Knot.
Comdr. Schirra's parents, his
wife and his son also were
Nodding in the direction of
Astronauts Glenn and Carpen-
ter, whom he had introduced
earlier, Comdr. Schirra said he
had seen both their fireflies"
while aloft. He. recalled that
Col. Glenn had reported green
ones and Comdr. Carpenter
white ones that looked like
little bits of frost.
"The fireflies as John (Glenn)
described them were perfectly
described" he said. 'The col
oring was the light green that
you can see on a summer eve
ming on an open field. The
white frosty type particles as
Scott described them including
Zones that looked like) lathe
turnings-I saw one of those,
Scott, were exactly as you de-
scribed them.
Describes Haze
Later he told a questioner he
believed both types of fire
flies" were the same in origin,
and that both had come from
the capsule. However, he added
tzat cts going to take another
flight to determine what the
DhjectS are" He went on:
II don't know whether we
will see them on future flights
ein the more advanced Gemini
and Apollo programs. I know
that we will see them on future
Mercury flights"
Celestial observations made
during his long flight gave new
insights into the strange haze
layer" that circles the earth.
Comdr. Schirra said he could
spot stars through the layer
and beneath it.
"I thought I was seeing
lighted areas in cities and what
have you" he said. This some
what surprised me-that the
layer that John and Scott had