Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1963-05-12

ton on this flight is greater
than on earlier ones. The fact
that so much equipment, plus
life support for q S4-hour
flight, can be packed into o
capsule designed for five-hour
missions is attributable at least
in part to Mai. Cooper himself
The liehtest OF the astronauts.
his trim 151-pound physique
Bellies his nickname "Gordo. "
which Is spanish for ''Fatso."
weight Under GIenn's
Mat. Cooper weighed in this
week end at 20 pounds less than
Marine Lieut.. Col. John Glenn
scaled on the morning he made
the first American orbital
flight is months ago. The
difference is exactly equivalent
to the combined weight Of the
flashing light experiment and
the on board TV camera which
will photograph Maj. Cooper
periodically.
The TV camera Is q matter
of considerable interest. since
it win bring to the national
television audience practically
live pictures frem space. Be-
cause the on-board camera
uses q slow-scan mode Of pic
ture taking to save weight and
power consumption, its signals
cannot be hooked directly into
the commercial nv networks.
Output Of the TVa camera
must be processed electronically
at Mercury Central Control
before being made available to
the general public. The pictures
are expected to be extremely
jerky-for practical purposes. a
series Of stills shown In rather
rapid succession. However, they
should give good definition.
In addition to the central
control station here, two other
surface points have the capa-
bility of receiving TV signals
from Faith-7. These are the
ground station on Grand Ca
nary Island, off the west Afri-
can post, and the Pacific COM
mand ship. stationed south of
Japan.
Maj. Cooper can, If he wishes,
take the TV camera down from
its wall bracket, point 1t out the
window Of his capsule and pho
tograph objects in space or on
the ground. Thus, he has the
potential ability to become
Americas first spy-in-the-sky
since he will be the first astro-
naut to fly over Iron Curtain
territory.
For about five minutes, 21a
minutes on each Of two passes
Maj. Cooper will be over Red
China within TV transmission
range of the Pacific command
ship. The time Of these passes
on the ninth and tenth orbits
will be late morning and early
afternoon Wednesday, local
), Chinese time.
It was not known here
whether Mai. Cooper will exer-
else his option to remove the
camera from its mounting al
any time targets Of interest ap-
peare during TV contact times,
to quote from the official space
: agency release about the flight
No instructions one way or an.
! other have been given to Maj
Cooper on the question Of
photography over China, the
space agency said.
The esponiage aspects Of
space flight have long been q
touchy matter. American gen.
erals and politicians frequently
use the past overflights Of Rus
sian cosmonauts to illustrate
. the potential threat from space
, And with the advent earlier
this year Of military participa.
ton in Project Gemini, some
, countries have indicated unwil-
, lingness to continue co-operat.
. ing with the United States or
tracking systems that might bt
! used for military purposes.
, DEVELOPMENT of the long.
range high-frequency radio
! system for Gemini is believed t.
| be spurred in part by this con-
Germ overseas. With transmits.
r sion systems good for 3,00(
miles instead Of 1000. the
United States probably coulc
get adequate ground coveragt
!, for Gemini without trouble.
! some negotiations abroad.