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In the summer of 1958, Congress passed an act creating the National Aeronautics and Space
Administration. The act declared "that it is the policy of the United States that activities in
space should be devoted to peaceful purposes for the benefit of mankind." On October 1, 1958
this new agency was established.
Congress provided that aeronautical and space activities sponsored by the United States
shall be directed by this civilian agency, "except for activities peculiar to or primarily associated
with the development of weapons, military operations, or the defense of the United States."
The act further states: The aeronautical and space activities shall be conducted so as to con-
tribute materially to one or more of the following objectives:
The expansion of human knowledge of phenomena in the atmosphere and space;
The improvement of the usefulness, performance, speed, safety, and efficiency of
aeronautical and space vehicles;
The development and operation of vehicles capable of carrying instruments, equip-
ment, supplies, and living organisms through space;
The establishment of longe-range studies of the potential benefits to be gained from,
the opportunities for, and the problems involved in the utilization of aeronautical and
space activities for peaceful and scientific purposes;
The preservation of the role of the United States as a leader in aeronautical and space
science and technology and in the application thereof to the conduct of peaceful
activities within and outside the atmosphere;
The making available to agencies directly concerned with national defense of dis-
coveries that have military value or significance, and the furnishing by such agencies,
to the civilian agency established to direct and control non-military and space activi-
ties, of information as to discoveries which have value or significance to that agency;
Cooperation by the United States with other nations and groups of nations in work
done pursuant to this Act and in the peaceful application of the results thereof; and
The most effective utilization of the scientific and engineering resources of the United
States, with close cooperation among all interested agencies of the United States in
order to avoid unnecessary duplication of effort, facilities, and equipment.
WHAT IS SPACE?
Space has been defined as that part of the universe between—
and possibly beyond—celestial bodies. It may be infinite and limitless.
Man's knowledge is not yet comprehensive enough to tell him if there
are boundaries.
As far as man on Earth is concerned, space begins at the high
border of the Earth's atmosphere and extends to infinity. The atmosphere
of the Earth is divided into layers. The lowest layer is the troposphere.
The highest layer is the stratosphere. Where the stratosphere fades into
nothingness—there space begins.
Space is populated by stars and planets, by asteroids, meteoroids,
comets and satellites. For the past billions of years, perhaps, these
satellites have been, as far as we know, the creations of celestial nature.
Lately, very lately in the cosmic time span, man has added satellites
of his own making.
Natural celestial bodies in space range in size from microscopic
up to colossal. They number in billions times billions.
Space, man believes, is airless except as some planets may create
their own atmospheres. It may contain life as we know it or it may con-
tain life that is strange and unknown to Earth. It may contain no life.
Space is as cold as absolute zero on some of its frozen bodies and
as hot as 50 million degrees Fahrenheit on others.
For as long as he has had the intelligence to realize space exists,
man has dreamed of escaping the layers of atmosphere which surround
his planet and of exploring the vastnesses of the universe which
lie beyond.
Or. Goddard with one of his rockets at his Roswell, New Mexico shop, 1935.
March 16, 1926—a momentous day for rocket flight. Dr. Robert H. God-
dard, American rocket pioneer, launched first liquid fuel rocket at Auburn,
Massachusetts. Dr. Goddard stands beside rocket.
fessor Oberth provided the chief impetus for experimental rocket work
in Germany when, in 1923, he published his book, "The Rocket into
Interplanetary Space." Professor Oberth discussed many of the problems
still faced by present day rocket scientists and explained the theories
and mathematics involved in lifting an object from the surface of the
Earth and sending it to another world. The inspiration for the formation
of the German Society for Space Travel (Verein fur Raumschiffahrt)
came from Hermann Oberth's book. Both Oberth and Goddard favored
the liquid fuel rocket. Much of the rocket work done in Germany was
based upon the research and some of the patents of Dr. Goddard.
Dr. Goddard, a professor at Clark University in Massachusetts,
sent a finished copy of a 69-page, manuscript to the Smithsonian Institu-
tion in 1919 as a report on the investigations and calculations that had
occupied him for several years. This paper entitled, "A Method of Reach-
ing Extreme Altitudes", caught the attention of the press because of a
small paragraph on the possibility of shooting a rocket to the moon and
exploding a load of powder on its surface.
Almost simultaneously with the publication of this paper, Dr. God-
dard concluded that a liquid fuel rocket would overcome some of the
difficulties encountered with the pellets of powder he had used to power
his rockets. For the next six years, Dr. Goddard worked to perfect his
ideas. By 1926 he was ready for an actual test flight. On March 16 of
that year the world's first liquid fuel rocket was launched. The flight,
while not spectacular in distance covered (184 feet), did prove this
type of rocket would perform as Dr. Goddard had expected.
Public reaction to the increasing noise and size of Dr. Goddard's
10 rockets forced him to leave Clark University for the southwestern
United States where he could continue his work in more open spaces
without endangering his neighbors. Through continual improvement,
his rockets reached 7,500 feet by 1935 and speeds of over 700 miles
per hour.
By the late 1930's Dr. Goddard was recognized, at least in pro-
fessional circles, as probably the world's foremost rocket scientist. His
work and patents were well known for years to the German Society for
Space Travel. Members of this society developed the German V-2
guided missile used during World War II.
American rocket enthusiasts formed the American Interplanetary
Society in 1930, later changing their name to the American Rocket
Society. The test firings and meetings of this group stimulated a grow-
ing awareness of rocketry and its capabilities in the American public.
Many members of this early society are responsible for current space
programs.
The first instrumented rocket was launched by Dr. Robert H.
Goddard on July 17, 1929. Its instruments consisted of a barometer and
a thermometer with a small camera focused to record their readings at
maximum altitude.
On October 4, 1957, the Soviet Union put the first man-made Delta launch vehicle carrying TIROS
satellite, Sputnik I, into orbit. On January 31, 1958, the United States III meteorological satellite rises from
launch pad at Cape Canaveral, Flor-
launched its first satellite, Explorer I. ida. July 12, 1961.
The world then entered the Age of Space.
Blockhouse 34, Cape Canaveral, Flor-
ida, during first flight test of 1.5-mil-
lion-pound-thrust Saturn, October 27,
1961.
American Rocket Society members ground test a liquid fuel rocket in 1935.
'THE SOLAR SYSTEM
URANUS
•-K \?»»'
JUPITER '•*••.
NEPTUNE
SATURN
The solar system man hopes to explore is tiny in relation to the Frequent solar eruptions and solar flares occur. These produce definite
universe as a whole, but it is an area of tremendous magnitude in Earth effects on Earth, such as ionospheric disturbances, magnetic storms,
terms. Its primary, our Sun, is a star located at the center of the system interruptions of radio communications, unusual auroral displays and a
with nine planets revolving around it in near-circular orbits. Some of lowering of the average cosmic ray intensity. Giant solar flares are a
the planets, like Earth, have natural satellites of their own (Jupiter has hazard to manned space exploration in that they may subject man to
twelve), and there are thousands of other bodies moving within the dangerously lethal doses of radiation. These major flares can be charted,
system. however, and probably avoided.
The planets are held in their orbits by the Sun's gravity. They all
move in the same direction around the Sun and their orbits lie in nearly THE EARTH
the same plane, with Pluto the exception. Their orbital speeds are higher The Earth is fifth in size among the nine planets. It has a diameter
near the Sun. Mercury, the planet nearest the Sun, makes a circuit in of 7,927 miles at the equator and 7,900 miles at the poles. The Earth's
88 days. Earth's period of revolution is 365 VA days. Distant Pluto, more circumference is about 25,000 miles and it has an area of approximately
than three and a half billion miles from the Sun takes 248 Earth years 196,950,000 square miles. It travels around the Sun an average speed
to make one circuit. of 18.52 miles per second.
Life on Earth is sustained by the light and the heat of the Sun.
THE SUN Earth's weather and even its atmospheric conditions are greatly affected
The Sun represents more than 99 per cent of the total mass of the by solar energy.
solar system. Its mass is 330,000 times that of Earth's and its volume Atmospheric pressure at the surface of the Earth amounts to about
more than a million times greater. The surface temperature of the Sun one ton per square foot. This pressure decreases as the altitude increases.
is about 10,300 degrees F. and the temperature at the interior some Thus, 99 per cent of the atmosphere lies below 20 miles and all but
50 millions of degrees F. one-millionth of the atmosphere lies below 60 miles.
Every eleven years, the number of dark spots on the solar surface, Although there is no exact or recognized boundary, this fact has
called sun spots, reaches a maximum. These spots show strong magnetic led many space scientists and space writers to place the beginning of
fields. During the maximum of a sun spot period, the Sun shows marked space—as far as Earth is concerned—at 60 miles above the Earth's
12 activity in shorter "wavelengths"—X-rays and ultraviolet radiation. surface.
THE MOON not at the same speed or distance. Mars makes one revolution about the
The Moon is a satellite of the Earth and revolves about Earth from Sun in 687 Earth days, while the Earth makes the same trip in 36514
west to east every 27 days, 7 hours and 43 minutes. It accompanies days.
Earth on its annual revolution about the Sun. The Moon's distance from Mars has a diameter of 4,140 miles, a little more than half that
Earth varies from 221,463 miles when the Moon is at perigee (nearest of Earth while its mass is only 0.1078 that of the Earth.
to the Earth) to 252,710 miles when the Moon is at apogee (farthest Mars has an atmosphere but not one in which man could live. It
from the Earth). The mean distance is 238,857 miles. has been compared to Earth's at an altitude of 56,000 feet. At the
The Moon is 2,160 miles in diameter. Its mass is about one- Martian equator the temperature ranges from 50 degrees F. above zero
eightieth that of Earth and its volume one-forty-ninth. The area of the at noon to about 90 degrees F. below zero at night.
Moon is about one-fourth the surface of the Earth and its circumference Mars is frequently called the red and green planet because to the
about 6,800 miles. naked eye Mars appears as a dot of pale red. Through a telescope Mars
Moon's orbit around Earth is an ellipse and its orbital speed aver- is ordinarily a reddish disc. At certain seasons of the Martian year green
ages 2,287 miles per hour. It travels faster near perigee and slower near areas appear. These may or may not be green vegetation conforming to
apogee. Because it rotates in exactly the same length of time as it takes seasonal changes. After several months the green shades change to
to revolve about Earth, the Moon always presents its same side toward yellow and finally into chocolate brown.
Earth. To all intents and purposes the Moon has no atmosphere and If these colors actually denote vegetation, most scientists believe it
probably never did have. to be some kind of lichen which can grow in very little soil, live on a
The Moon has definite mountain ranges and many of its areas are minimum of moisture and withstand extreme cold.
covered with closely ranged peaks. Many of these tower 20,000 feet high Most Earth scientists believe there is some form of primitive plant
and some rise to nearly 30,000 feet. On the side visible to Earth, the life on Mars but discourage any speculation about little green men.
Moon has about 30,000 craters of varying depths, probably caused
by meteors. DESERT OK GREENHOUSE?
Early day astronomers thought that certain dark areas of the The orbit of Venus, inside that of the Earth, at times brings the
Moon were covered with water and named them seas and oceans. cloud covered planet to within 26 million miles, nearer to the Earth
Actually, the Moon has had no trace of water within historical time and than any of the other planets.
most astronomers believe that it is covered by a layer of dust. Venus has a diameter of 7,610 miles or just about 317 miles smaller
From the scientific standpoint, exploration of the Moon is of great than the Earth. Its mass is 82 per cent of the Earth's and its surface
importance. Having neither wind nor rain nor significant mountain- gravity 86 per cent of Earth's.
building activity, the Moon's surface is almost changeless. Thus, the Venus has an atmosphere, but one so dense it completely prevents
Moon offers an opportunity to study the matter of the solar system Earth from getting any view of the actual surface. This atmosphere is
practically as it was billions of years ago. Such study may help answer believed to be about 200 miles deep and is in the form of white clouds,
some of the key questions of science—how was the solar system created; composed largely of carbon dioxide with probably some nitrogen. There
how did it develop; how did life originate? is no free oxygen or water vapor.
On the surface of Venus the day, temperature is about 150 degrees
THE PLANETS F. while that of the dark or night side is a little below zero. Venus
The planets of the solar system, in order of distance from the Sun, rotates slowly. Its day is believed to be 15 to 30 Earth days. Venus orbits
are Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune the Sun in 225 Earth days.
and Pluto. There are two prevailing theories about life on Venus. One—the
Of these, space explorers are most interested in Venus and Mars, most widely held—is that since there is no trace of water vapor or water
again because they are closest and because we know more about them. in the atmosphere of Venus it may be a dry and barren desert.
The orbit of Mars is, of course, outside that of Earth. At most The second theory is that the carbon dioxide atmosphere seen from
favorable opposition. Mars is just over 34 million miles away (as com- Earth may be a shell around the planet—and that under this shell there
pared to the 221,463 miles which separate the Earth and the Moon at may be an atmosphere containing both water and oxygen. This could
most favorable opposition). make Venus a veritable global greenhouse—warm and wet with at least
Mars and the Earth move about the Sun in the same direction but the possibility of luxuriant vegetable growth. 13
ckopter TV attraction. Specifically, the attraction varies inversely as the square of
the distance between the two bodies.
SPACE PROBES AND SATELLITES- Earth, a body moving in space, has a gravitational pull. It pulls any-
thing within its sphere of influence toward the center of the Earth at
GENERAL PRINCIPLES increasing speed. This acceleration of gravity on Earth at its surface is
used as a basic measi rement. It is known as one gravity or one "g".
Earth's gravitational influence is believed to extend throughout the
universe, although the force weakens with distance and becomes virtu-
ally impossible to measure.
MOTION OF BODIES IN SPACE Any vehicle moving in space is subject to gravity. The vehicle, hav-
Any man-made vehicle launched into space will move in accord- ing mass, is itself a space body. Therefore it attracts and is attracted by
ance with the same laws that govern the motions of the planets about all other space bodies, although the degree of attraction of distant bodies
the Sun, and the Moon about the Earth. is too small to require consideration. A vehicle moving between the Earth
Prior to the time of Copernicus, man generally accepted the belief and the Moon would be influenced by both bodies, and also by the Sun.
that the Earth was the center of the solar system. His efforts to explain
SATELLITES AND SPACE PROBES
the motion of the planets on this assumption failed. Copernicus pointed
Man's activities in the field of space exploration have been con-
out that the difficulties in explaining the planetary movement observa-
fined thus far to space probes and satellites.
tions disappeared if one assumed that the Sun was the center of the solar
A space probe has come to be known as any vehicle launched into
system, and that the planets revolved about the Sun.
space which does not and is not intended to achieve Moon or planetary
Years later, Galileo took up the defense of Copernicus' theory.
orbit. (It may fall into Sun orbit.) It is an instrumented vehicle launched
With experiments such as the dropping of two different size masses from
into space for the purpose of obtaining new knowledge through the in-
the Leaning Tower of Pisa, he started the thinking which led to our
struments it carries.
current understanding of the laws of motion.
Sometimes the aim of such a probe is simply to make measurements
In the early 17th century, Johannes Kepler formulated three laws
or gather data of any kind deep in space and without any particular
which described the motions of the planets about the Sun. They are:
reference to any celestial body such as the Moon or a planet. In such
1. Each planet revolves about the Sun in an orbit that is an ellipse,
cases it is sufficient to simply project the object into space at speed great
with the Sun at one focus of the orbital ellipse. enough to achieve the distance desired. In other instances, it may be
2. The line from the center of the Sun to the center of a planet
desired to project the space probe close to the Moon or Venus, for ex-
(called the radius vector) sweeps out equal areas in equal periods of time.
ample. In such cases exact guidance and timing requirements must be
3. The square of a planet's period of revolution is proportional to met. Velocity requirements vary for different missions.
the cube of its mean distance from the Sun.
A satellite is an attendant body which revolves about another body,
These laws, together with Sir Isaac Newton's law of gravitation,
usually with reference to the solar system. (The body revolved about is
are important to space research. They make it possible to deduce mathe- known as the primary.) Up until the last decade the term had been used
matically the motions of the planets and other bodies in the solar system almost exclusively in reference to natural celestial bodies, such as the
and to calculate flight paths to these bodies. Moon revolving about the Earth. Since 1957 it has also come to mean
GRAVITY a man-made body placed in orbit around the Earth or around any other
Newton (in addition to his laws of motion) formulated the law of celestial body—and in such case is an artificial satellite.
gravitation, which is concerned with the mutual attraction, or "pull", An artificial satellite ot the Earth, for example, is simply a man-
that exists between all particles of matter. In its most simple form, made Moon. In revolving about the Earth it must obey the same laws
Newton's law says this: that the natural Moon does, and that the planets obey in revolving
AH bodies, from the largest star in the universe to the smallest par- about the Sun.
ticle of matter, attract each other with what is called a gravitational pull.
The strength of their gravitational pull is dependent upon their WHAT KEEPS A SATELLITE UP
masses. Any satellite, whether natural or artificial remains in orbit through
14 The closer two bodies are to each other, the greater their mutual the.action of two physical phenomena—gravity and centrifugal force.
To understand more completely these two phenomena, try a very miles) would need only to have an orbital velocity of about 2,000 miles
simple experiment. an hour.
Fasten a weight on the end of a string, hold the string in your hand This does not mean that the far-out orbit would be easier. Consider-
and swing the weight. able additional force must be used to push a satellite out to that distance.
When the weight has reached "orbital" speed it will stretch the ' It is virtually impossible to launch a satellite into an exactly circu-
string in a straight line from your hand. lar orbit. (For one reason the Earth is not precisely circular.) Usually,
The weight is held in its orbital position by the centrifugal force their paths are elongated circles or ellipses. The perigee (distance nearest
created by the swinging motion. The string duplicates the pull of gravity the Earth) may be only a hundred or so miles while the apogee (distance
from the center of Earth. farthest from the Earth) may be several thousand miles in some of the
If the string breaks the weight will fly outward in a straight line. If more exaggerated ellipses.
you slow the swinging motion the weight will tend to fall back toward A satellite launched into an orbit parallel to and 22,300 miles over
your hand, which represents the center of gravity. the equator is termed "synchronous," "fixed," or "stationary." This satel-
The Earth itself is a satellite of the Sun. The Earth is held in its lite will take about 24 hours to complete one trip around the world, the
position orbiting the Sun by the same two forces as the weight on the same time the Earth takes for one full rotation on its axis. Therefore,
string—the pull of the Sun's gravity and the centrifugal force of Earth's the satellite remains fixed more or less over one spot on Earth. To a
circling speed, about 18.5 miles per second. ground observer, the satellite would appear to stand still.
This speed creates a centrifugal force which, for all practical pur-
poses, exactly equals the pull of gravity from the Sun. ESCAPE VELOCITY
Thus, it is held in constant orbital position. If the Sun's gravity Any space probe or satellite launched on a space exploration mis-
should increase, Earth would be pulled into it. If the Earth's speed should sion must achieve escape velocity, that is, must overcome the pull of
increase it would fly away from the Sun. Earth's gravity. This is done by accelerating the vehicle to a given speed.
A man-made satellite around any cosmic body is in exactly the Since the force of Earth's gravity declines with distance from the center
same physical situation as Earth in relation to the Sun or as the weight of Earth (as noted before) the minimum speed required to overcome
on the string. Its speed in orbit creates sufficient centrifugal force to with- gravity varies.
stand the pull of gravity from the primary and thus keeps it "up". At or near the Earth's surface, the speed required to overcome
gravity is slightly more than seven miles a second or 25,000 miles an
LAUNCHING A SATELLITE INTO ORBIT
To place a satellite in orbit it is necessary to accelerate the vehicle
to orbital velocity. This velocity, of course, provides the centrifugal force
which counteracts the gravitational attraction of the Earth (See Figure 1).
Since this gravitational attraction decreases with the distance from
its center of gravity (the Earth in case of an Earth orbit) a different
orbital velocity is required for each distance from the primary.
In every case, the velocity must produce the amount of centrifugal
force needed to balance the pull of gravity.
For a satellite relatively close to Earth, around 200 miles, the
velocity required is about 18,000 miles per hour.
A vehicle placed in orbit as far away as the Moon (roughly 240,000
1,260 miles. NERV carried a nuclear emulsion (a photographic film RECEIVER EXCITER
(NERV) (left)
COMMUNICATIONS.
"ANTENNA
tracking facilities and equipment and range and launch crew services for
satellites; AT&T will reimburse NASA for all facilities, materials, and
services; AT&T will report to NASA all experimental data and project
VERNIER
ROCKETS
results; and NASA will make these reports available to the world tech-
nical and scientific community.
ADVENT—In Project Advent, the U.S. Army is conducting re-
search and development to demonstrate the feasibility of long-distance
NITROGEN communication by "active-repeater" satellites in orbits 22,300 miles
GAS JETS
above the equator. Because the orbital period of satellites at these alti-
APOGEE
"ROCKET MOTOF; tudes is synchronous with the Earth's rotation, each Advent satellite
would appear to be stationary more or less over a point on Earth. Three
such satellites, spaced 120 degrees apart around the equator, could
provide virtually world-wide communication coverage. 21
TELEMETRY , SOLAR ANGLE
ANTENNAS / SENSORS
transistors.
included 4 transmitters,
antennas, 4 whip antennas, a VHP diplexerT
space backup equipment. It received, stored and transmitted me
sent to it from several points on Earth, effectively proving the feasibility
of a satellite communications system.
Courier had an initial apogee (maximum altitude in orbit) of 658
miles, and perigee (minimum altitude in orbit) of 501 miles. It operated
successfully until October 23, 1960, when an undetermined malfunc-
tion rendered it inoperative.
SCORE—Score, a U.S. Army communications satellite, launched
December 18, 1958, accomplished the first transmittal of the human
voice from space. Its payload was 150 pounds of receiving, recording,
and transmitting apparatus. Among the messages it recorded and relayed
from ground stations was a 1958 U.S. Presidential Christmas message
to the world. Score operated successfully for the life of its chemical
batteries (approximately 30 days).
TRANSIT—Transit is a U.S. Navy program leading to an opera-
tional satellite system for world-wide all-weather navigation. The Transit
Courier Satellite (above) Transit IV-A Navigation Satellite (below) operational system, consisting of four satellites in proper orbit, will
provide accurate data for navigational fixes to ships and aircraft through-
out the world on an average of once every 1V4 hours. Transit I-B was
launched April 13, 1960, carrying a payload weight of 265 pounds.
This included two ultra-stable oscillators, an infrared scanner, two tele-
metering receivers and transmitters plus solar cells and nickel-cadmium
batteries for power. Transit I-B proved the feasibility of an all-weather
navigation satellite system.
The launch of Transit II-A, on June 22, 1960, was the first U.S.
experiment to put two payloads in orbit simultaneously. The satellites
were attached to each other and separated by a spring, just after going
into orbit. Data from Transit II-A were used in a continuing geodetic
study program.
Transit III-B, launched February 21, 1961, was the first satellite in
the Transit program to include as part of its instrumentation a memory
system. (A memory system enables Transit to receive information on its
orbital parameters [orbital path data] from an injection station and to
give this information to ships or aircraft for use in computing their
locations.) Tests with the Transit III-B memory system proved the feasi-
bility of injecting data into and recovering data from the satellite.
Transit IV-A, launched June 29, 1961, carried the first nuclear
power system into space, a SNAP (System for Nuclear Auxiliary Pro-
pulsion) type generator. This SNAP generator, shaped like a slightly
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Man has been defying the elements since he appeared on Earth.
Driven by the necessity of survival, by his love of adventure and by an
insatiable curiosity where the unknown is concerned, he has braved the
oceans, the mountains, the deserts andfinally—the skies.
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since that time—slowly atfirstand then by great leaps. The sound
barrier (about 735 miles an hour) was broken in 1947. Present day
aircraftflyregularly at twice that speed. The X-15 has flown 4,093
miles an hour.
Now, in space, man has achieved altitudes measured in hundreds
of miles and speeds measured in thousands of miles per hour.
As far as the rigid requirements of space travel are concerned, man
is not the most efficient mechanism. He requires an environment very
close to the life he has always led. In order to survive he needs—
adequate oxygen, barometric pressure, temperature control and the
elimination of toxic agents. He is a relatively heavy object and the
equipment required to protect him in spaceflightof even short duration
weighs hundreds of pounds.
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In space man must cope with isolation and confinement, even radi-
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rest, food and relaxation and unlike a machine, he is not expendable.
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unknown. For, in spite of his shortcomings man brings to space explora-
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tion certain attributes which no one has ever succeeded in building into
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programs—Mercury, Apollo, the X-15 and Dyna Soar. There are other
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The spacecraft carries multiple communications system. Both ultra
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Two 1 6 mm cameras photograph the astronaut and the instrument
panel duringflight.A 70 mm camera photographs the horizon. Both of
course are to provide information on the status of equipment, the condi-
tion of the astronaut and the motion of the spacecraft during the mission.
how Mercury la launched
The Mercury is launched for orbitalflightby a modified Atlas,
whose three rocket engines produce a thrust of 360,000 pounds.
The launching procedure for orbitalflightis almost exactly the
same as for the suborbitalflightsmade by Astronauts Shepard and
Grissom. The launching time is near dawn. The astronaut is awakened
at 1:00 a.m. and has a breakfast of orange juice, eggs, steak and tea.
After afinalphysical exam he gets into his space suit and enters the
Mercury spacecraft about two hours before launch time.
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of the vehicle's instruments and equipment. Now and throughout the
flight he is in constant communication with the familiar and friendly
voice of another astronaut in the Control Center on the ground at Cape
Canaveral, the launch site.
As the countdown ends, the Atlas, with Mercury at the top, rises
slowly atfirstand then gains speed with altitude. After two minutes of
flight, the Atlas engines burn out and the escape tower, now unneeded,
is jettisoned.
Atfiveminutes the remaining engine burns out and the spacecraft
separates from the launch vehicle. Small jet rockets turn the spacecraft
around, blunt nosefirst,as it goes into orbit. The altitude is a little over
100 miles and the speed about 17,500 miles an hour.
The vehicle is travelling in space at the exact altitude where the
force of its motion equalizes the pull of gravity from Earth. Conse-
quently the craft and the occupant are without weight, or in a state of
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control panel in front of him. Although the control is automatic he can
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