Spacecraft of the Week #15

Long past time for a new Spacecraft of the Week. I've missed several weeks due to job and family responsibilities. So in starting over anew we'll honor an anniversary this week (or, rather, last Saturday) and present the Mercury MA-6 spacecraft flown by Co. John Glenn on February 20, 1962, Friendship 7.

Continuing in the tradition established by Alan Shepard and Gus Grissom, Glenn included the numeral 7 as he chose Friendship as his craft's name. Although born of the Cold War, America's civilian space program was conducted in the name of peace and international goodwill. Friendship 7 finally enabled America to match the Soviet feat of orbiting a man around the Earth. But what was our successful first threatened to come to a fiery end.

First an aside. The Soviets knew as the Americans that a return to Earth from space would produce an incredible array of forces both on the spacecraft and its human occupant. Deceleration could be accomplished with parachutes and/or rockets, but these added weight to the spacecraft. Since the Soviet designers included an ejection seat to safely remove the cosmonaut during a launch mishap, they utilized this to allow the returning traveler to separate himself from his craft and descend by his own parachute, allowing the spacecraft to land with a force greater than a human could bare. Why do this? So that all aspects of flight and landing could occur safely within the confines of the mother country, where stories could be tightly controlled.

NASA, meanwhile, opted to use the vast oceans and its powerful naval forces to recover its astronauts and spacecraft. While water landing reduces the shock of impact, more cusioning was needed. So the capsule was designed with a mechanism to detach the protective heat shield and drop down extending a cylindrical skirt. This skirt would fill with air, and provide a cushion to the craft and it's rider. It was this detachable shield that created the drama.

As Glenn orbited the Earth, ground controllers at mission control in Cape Canaveral saw a disconcerting sight: the light indicating detachment of the shield was illuminated. This could prove catastrophic, as the heat shield protected the craft during re-entry. If detached, it would be torn away and the spaceship and its occupant would disintegrate in a meteoric fireball. A plan was developed, and the message was sent to Glenn to not eject the retro pack. They did not tell Glenn this was meant to hold the head shield in place, hopefully long enough to do its job. Glenn caught on fast and figured out it was something with the heat shield. The resulting reentry was especially spectacular as the retro pack burned away. It was later found the sensor was faulty and there was no danger from a deployed shield, but the experience led to new guidelines in crisis management and communication with the astronaut.

Currently, Friendship 7 is displayed in the National Air & Space Museum under the Wright Flyer. A layer of plexiglas protects it from the thousands of visitors daily. While the plexiglas makes photography difficult, it does allow guests to get very close with this historic craft. It's difficult to imagine a human being sitting inside this small vehicle and hurtling through the heavens. So we salute our first orbiting astronaut and the spacecraft in which he traveled as our Spacecraft of the Week.

Spacecraft of the Week #6

Spacecraft of the Week is back after a short hiatus, and features an unflown spacecraft that would have given America's first astronaut a chance to orbit the earth. The Mercury program was to incrementally allow astronauts and NASA researchers experience into longer stays in space. After the first two suborbital flights would come a trio of three orbit flights, followed by three or four 22 orbit full day flights. This would take the program right to the start of the two seat Gemini flights. The first of these day trips was to be Mercury 10, piloted by Alan Shepard, who was launched on the first sub-orbital manned flight. Shepard's capsule would be outfitted with extra consumables for the longer mission. He christened his second Mercury Freedom 7 II, being the only spacecraft to my knowledge with a name that contains both Aramaic and Roman numbers. Due to budget constraints, the first day mission was reassigned to Gordon Cooper's Mercury 9 flight. After Cooper's successful flight, all remaining Mercury missions were canceled to free up talent for project Gemini, and Freedom 7 II was declared excess.

I originally saw Freedom 7 II at the visitor center for Ames Research Center in California. It was very accessible, displayed without a cover (only over the open hatch) and mounted on a McDonnell service rack. Previously, it was held in storage at Cape Canaveral after its mission was cancelled. For many years it wowed west coast Space Campers, but in 2003 was recalled by the Smithsonian and placed in the new Udvar-Hazy Center. There it sits under the protective wing of the orbiter Enterprise.

Spacecraft of the Week #4

Sometimes you find spacecraft in the oddest of locations. Last weeks SOTW, an Apollo boilerplate used as a time capsule, was originally located on a boulevard median in a small city. This weeks' spacecraft is also found on a a city street, but what it's history is remains unclear.

On the corner of Red Bluff Road and San Augustine Avenue in Pasedena, Texas, across from J.D. Parks Elementary School, a Mercury capsule complete with escape tower is mounted on a low pedestal. I don't know whether to list it as a boilerplate or a model. This has an air of authenticity that a fabricated model lacks, unfortunately due to the amount of deterioration that has taken place - a model would have been created to handle the weather. But several other questions arise besides its heritage. Why here? Nearby Johnson Space Center did not begin operations until Gemini IV, well after the completion of the Mercury project. Why is a lamp mounted on top of the escape tower aerospike? Normally, this would be for aircraft and indicate it may have once been mounted on a tall booster.

I last visited this capsule in February of 2005. Even though it was winter, the grounds were maintained and the shrubbery surrounding it was trimmed. Google Maps show it as still in this location, and Street View gives some good views of it. But the mystery remains behind the unique placement in this Houston suburb, and that is why I chose it for the Spacecraft of the Week.

Intrepid Duo

Updated pictures of the model capsule on the Intrepid Air, Sea & Space Museum provided by my buddy Scott Norman of the Coca-Cola Space Science Center. The Intrepid was part of the recovery of Aurora 7 in 1962 and Gemini 3 in 1965. These missions are commemorated on the Intrepid by these two models. The Gemini is displayed in a flotation collar suspended from a crane as if it were being recovered. Also on board is a sit-in Gemini (to be posted later). At one time I also had listed a full size Gemini model with retro and instrument sections, and a model of the Lunar Module Intrepid. I don't know if these were there and removed, if they are still theresomewhere (in storage, maybe) or my initial source was wrong. Someday, I'll get to New York and check it for myself.