NASA TECHNICAL NOTE NASA TNc D-4807 C,r AFWL KI RTLAMD z c 4 m 4 z FIRST U.S. MANNED SIX-PASS ORBITAL MISSION (MERCURY-ATLAS 8, SPACECRAFT 16) DESCRIPTION AND PERFORMANCE ANALYSIS Edited by John H. Boyuton i , . I 1,. I\, I ; ,.\ il'.i , _ . ..r .. , ,... I. .. /. Muizned Spucecmft Center '.. ,' I ' .' ..i .A..e; t-. , 1 . ., ,. * 1.' , , , .. .,. ,-,- Houston, Texas ,- -. .'.:)',.,:..'!. -c ;:- i., ..~ ,, ,-- ,.$ NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION WASHINGTON, D. C. SEPTEMBER 1968 /I I II I.IIIIIIIIIII~1111111 11111 11111111111111 I I .I TECH LIBRARY KAFB, NM Illllll Ill11 lllll Ill11 lllll1lll1 Ill11 1111 Ill /- FIRST U.S. MANNED SIX-PASS ORBITAL MISSION J (MERCURY-ATLAS 8, SPACECRAFT 16) DESCRIPTION AND PERFORMANCE ANALYSIS "--* k---. -Ed- John HI Boynton , 9- Manned Spacecraft Center Houston, Texas J NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMCmSJ-8-kFtON For sale by the Clearinghouse for Federal Scientific and Technical Information Springfield, Virginia 22151 - CFSTI price $3.00 ABSTRACT The results and analyses of the third U.S. manned orbital mission are presented. The mission was accomplished October 3, 1962, as a phase of Project Mercury. Spacecraft and launch-vehicle descriptions, mission operations, and postflight analyses are included. Particular treatment is given to the investigations of spacecraft systems performance and aeromedical analyses of the pilot. ii FOREWORD The first U. S. manned six-pass orbital mission was an extension of the two pre- vious manned three-pass orbital missions and added significantly to the knowledge gained in those two limited-duration missions. An overall analysis of the mission performance is presented, and only the minimum necessary supporting data are included. General acknowledgment is made of the extensive effort on the part of the entire Mercury team. The team consisted of many organizations external to the NASA Manned Spacecraft Center and included the Department of Defense, the spacecraft prime contractor and subcontractors, the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center for the Mercury Worldwide Network, the launch-vehicle prime contractor and subcontractors, and the many organizations and Government agencies which directly or indirectly made the success of the mission possible. This report represents the contributions of an assigned flight evaluation team which was comprised of systems specialists and operations personnel from throughout the NASA Manned Spacecraft Center, without whose analytical and documentary efforts a report of this technical completeness would not be possible. The Mercury-Atlas 8 (MA-8) report is being published at this time to complete the Mercury technical documentation series and provide a source of historical data in much greater technical detail than that previously available. Further, to preserve a public record of the state of knowledge at the time of the mission, discussions and engineering conclusions remain essentially as they were written at the end of the MA-8 postflight data evaluation, despite any results from subsequent flight programs. iii CONTENTS Section Page SUMMARY ..................................... 1 INTRODUCTION .................................. 3 SPACE-VEHICLE DESCRIPTION ......................... 7 ~ ~~ ~~ ~ ~ ~ __ SPACECRAFT DESCRIPTION ........................ 7 Electrical and Sequential ........................ 7 Environmental Control System ..................... 9 Automatic Stabilization and Control System ............... 9 Reaction Control System ......................... 10 Instrumentation System ......................... 10 Communications System ......................... 11 Mechanical and Pyrotechnic Systems .................. 11 Heat Protection System ......................... 12 Personal Equipment ........................... 12 LAUNCH-VEHICLE DESCRIPTION ..................... 12 MISSION OPERATIONS .............................. 21 PRELAUNCH OPERATIONS ......................... 21 Pilot Training .............................. 21 Spacecraft Prelaunch Preparation .................... 23 Spacecraft History ............................ 24 Launch-Vehicle Preparation ...................... 24 Flight-Safety Reviews .......................... 24 LAUNCH OPERATIONS ............................ 25 Launch Procedure ............................ 25 V . Section Page Weather Conditions ............................ 26 Photographic Coverage .......................... 27 FLIGHT-CONTROL OPERATIONS ...................... 29 Prelaunch Period ............................. 29 Launch Phase ............................... 30 Orbital Phase ............................... 30 Retrofire and Reentry Phases .......... I ........... 32 RECOVERY OPERATIONS .......................... 32 Recovery Plans .............................. 32 Recovery Procedure ........................... 33 Recovery Aids .............................. 35 MISSION PERFORMANCE 53 ~~ ___.... ~ ............................. SPACECRAFT PERFORMANCE ....................... 53 Spacecraft Control System ........................ 53 Environmental Control System ...................... 56 Communications Systems ......................... 61 Electrical and Sequential Systems .................... 62 Instrumentation System .......................... 64 Heat Protection System .......................... 67 Mechanical and Pyrotechnic Systems .................. 69 Posfflight Inspection and Meteoroid Analysis .............. 70 Scientific Experiments .......................... 72 AEROMEDICAL ANALYSIS .......................... 78 Clinical Examinations .......................... 78 Physiological Observations ........................ 78 vi Section Page Special Studies ............................. 79 Biosensor System ........................... 79 Preflight Aeromedical History ..................... 80 Preflight Physical Ekamination .................... 81 Preflight Physiological Data ...................... 81 Flight Physiological Data ........................ 82 Special Studies ............................. 83 In-flight Aeromedical History ..................... 84 Postflight Physical Examination .................... 85 PILOT FLIGHT ACTIVITIES ........................ 88 Flight -Plan Description ........................ 88 Operational Equipment ......................... 88 Control Tasks ............................. 90 Systems Management and Operational Procedures .......... 93 Conclusions ............................... 95 PILOT'S FLIGHT REPORT ......................... 96 Countdown and Powered Flight ..................... 96 Orbital Flight .............................. 98 Retrosequence ............................. 101 Reentry ................................. 102 Landing and Recovery ......................... 103 LAUNCH-VEHICLE PERFORMANCE ................... 104 Airframe ................................ 104 Pneumatics ............................... 104 Abort Sensing and Implementation System ............... 104 vii Section Page Propellant Tanking and Utilization ................... 104 Flight-Control and Guidance Systems ................. 105 TRAJECTORY AND MISSION EVENTS ................... 107 Sequence of Flight Events ....................... 107 Flight Trajectory ............................ 107 MERCURY WORLDWIDE NETWORK PERFORMANCE .......... 108 General ................................. 108 Trajectory ............................... 109 CONCLUDING REMARKS 207 ~-............................ .................................. 209 viii TABLES Table Page I SPACECRAFT 16 WEIGHT AND BALANCE DATA . 14 II PILOT PREFLIGHT PREPARATION HISTORY . 36 III PILOT TRAINING SUMMARY IN THE MERCURY PROCEDURES TRAINER NO. 2 (CAPE CANAVERAL) . 37 IV MODIFICATIONS AND TESTS MADE TO SPACECRAFT 16 . 38 V ATLANTIC MISSILE RANGE OPTICAL LAUNCH COVERAGE . 40 VI REQUIREMENTS FOR AUTOMATIC MODE SWITCHING . 114 VIT ORBIT-MODE OPERATION . 114 VITI REACTION-CONTROL-SYSTEMFUELCONSUMPTION . 115 M LOW-RESIDUE DIET . 116 X AEROMEDICAL COUNTDQWN . 117 XI PHYSICAL EXAMINATIONS CONDUCTED FOR MA-8 OPERATIONS . 118 XII SUMMARY OF HEART RATE AND RESPIRATION DATA FROM PHYSIOLOGICAL MONITORING . 119 XI11 SUMMARY OF BLOOD-PRESSURE DATA . 120 XIV IN-FLIGHT BODY-TEMPERATURE VALUES . .. 121 XV POSTFLIGHT BLOOD-PRESSURE VALUES AND HEART RATES . 122 XVI CLINICAL EVALUATION . 123 XVII PERIPHERAL BLOOD VALUES . 124 XVIII URINESUMMARY.. 125 XM YAW MANEUVERS . 126 XX SUMMARY OF MAJOR FLIGHT ACTIVITIES . 127 XXI CONTROL-MODE UTILIZATION . 133 XXII SEQUENCE OF EVENTS . 134 ix Table Page XXUI COMPARISON OF PLANNED AND ACTUAL TRAJECTORY PARAMETERS ............................ 135 XXIV ORBITAL -INSERTION CONDITIONS AVAILABLE AT THE MERCURY CONTROL CENTER .................. 136 XXV RADARTRACKING ........................... 137 XXVI LANDING-POINT DATA ........................ 139 XXVII COMMAND HANDOVER SUMMARY .................. 140 XXVIII COMMAND FUNCTION SUMMARY ................... 143 XXIX AIR-TO-GROUND SIGNAL STRENGTH ................ 144 X FIGURES Figure Page 1 Pilot Schirra prior to insertion into spacecraft ............ 4 2 Pilot Schirra on the deck of the recovery aircraft carrier after the MA-8 mission ........................ 4 3 Ground track for the MA-8 orbital mission .............. 5 4 MA -8 lift -off configuration ....................... 15 5 MA-8 spacecraft and adapter prior to lift-off ............. 16 6 MA-8 spacecraft axis diagram ..................... 17 7 Booster-engine baffled injector .................... 18 8 Booster -engine hypergolic igniter (a) Igniter locations ........................... 19 (b) Igniter configuration .......................