Evening star., 1962-05-24
MERCURY
Haze Briefly Mars Countdown
For Carpenters Space Flight

Continued From Page Al
during the equivalent period Of
Col. Glenn's flight last Feb
Tuary 20.
IOniZation Causes Loss
This loss of communication
is caused by the identification
Of the air around the speeding
capsule. Very high frequency
radio waves cannot pass
through the layer Of ionized air.
Radar continued to track the
capsule as it came in, but in
the period beginning at 1870
there was no way to know for
certain what was happening to
the aStronaut or how he was
withstanding the terrific heats
and preSsures Of re-entry.
At 1874 pm. Mercury control
announced that it was begin
ming to receive indications that
"he is attempting to trigger his
transmitter and We expect to
re establish communications
momentarily."
One minute later, the control
center announced that there
"is the distinct possibility that
the capsule may land much
farther downrange than had
been planned"
200-Mile OverShOot
The distance Of the over
shoot was set at "as much as
200 miles"
The spokesman said that the
capsule may have passed out
of radio range of the Cape be-
fore the ionization period had
passed. Three minutes later
communications still had not
been re-established and it was
announced that search and res
cue airplanes. together with
planes capable of establishing
communications with the cap
sule. had been dispatched into
an area southeast Of Puerto L
Rico where the capsule seemed I
now to be heading.
There was no explanation OF
how the capsule would. over
shoot its landing position by as a
much as 200 miles if the retro S
rockets had been fired on time p
as appeared to have been the Il
case.
Out of Contact c
Throughout most of the n
third orbit, Comdr. Carpenter 2
was out Of voice contact with |,
Mercury tracking stations II
strung around the world. He =
checked in with the Indian =
Ocean tracking ship at 1924 -
pm. and reported himself y, y
"Okay." y
He said he was flying manu-
ally to conserve the automatic
fuel supply and reported fuel =.
reserve of As per cent in the =,
automatic system and 40 in the :,
manual tanks. n n
Over Muchea, he reconfirmed =
that his fuel situation was G
satisfactory and said that his \,
suit and cabin temperature and :,
all operating systems were in 4
good shape. He said he was OBJ +,
serving stars with a photo
meter, or light intensity gauge. VI
to determine the probable navi- |,
cation abilities of a man in s
space. O
Told to Get Ready y
At 1:07 pm, the astronaut t
checked in with the Hawaiian t
tracking station and was told
to get ready for the re-entry {
maneuver. He was instructed c
to switch the steering system 6
from manual to automatic for
re-entry. {
The need for the automatic
system in this crucial phase of '
the flight was the reason there
was so much concern about
the availability of fuel for the
automatic steering mode.
Comdr. Carpenter reported
that his suit and cabin tenn
peratures were holding salts
factorily.
After a cliff-hanging period
Of suspense during the second
orbit when the capsules con-
troll system fuel supply ap-
peared to be diminishing
rapidly, it was decided that the
spaceman would be committed |
to go the whole distance in q
planned three-orbit mission
that would land him about
1000 miles southeast of here
in the sea.
Over Australia shortly after
II O'Clock Comdr. Carpenter
reported that the temperature |
in his suit was rising. This
had bothered him periodi- /
cally in the two and a half |
hours since lift-off.
At Woomera, Australia, the
astronaut said an eating ex-
pertinent had proved no prob
lem" but that little bite-sized
pieces of food provided in his
capsule crumbled somewhat.
Supposedly, the food was pre-
pared with a protective cover
ing which would prevent
crumbling.
Over California at 11:45 am.
Comdr. Carpenter reported see
ing "fireflies" such as Col. !
Glenn and Cosmonaut Cher
man Titov had reported.
oh" he said, there's one
drifting off, going faster than
I am" He also told of seeing
them on the first orbit.
Suit Temperature Normal
He said his suit temperature
was down to a comfortable 69I
degrees again, indicating that
whatever the trouble with the
suit temperature control might