FLIGHT OF FAITH 7

[Music] may 15 1963 the florida the event project mercury's final manned flight in earth orbit forerunner to project gemini and apollo in the nation space program witnesses of the event the people of the world on the site in florida at television screens throughout north america and europe and at radios on other continents high above cape canaveral an aerial camera records the launch the primary purposes of the fourth american manned orbital flight were to confirm how well man can function in space during a day and a half of weightlessness and to test the efficiency of the human being as a primary component of a space flight system the story then begins and ends with man man is a living thinking element of the space flight system and the man as an individual the man who named his spacecraft faith seven for his faith and for his friends the individual air force major and nasa astronaut leroy gordon cooper jr what events in his life led to his selection as the man who would take america's longest stride in space he began flying at an early age he soloed at 16 an air force lieutenant and jet pilot at 22 he also obtained an aeronautical engineering degree and qualified for the daring and methodical work of a test pilot by the time he was selected as an astronaut he was a trained experienced test pilot of supersonic jets light were new beyond anything previously demanded even from a supersonic test engineer new knowledge was essential new academic training from astronomy and celestial navigation to studies such as astrodynamics spacecraft structures bioastronautics as an astronaut gordon cooper entered another world of sensation such as weightlessness the absence of gravity which can be simulated on earth for only brief periods he underwent hours of training on centrifuges experiencing the forces of acceleration he learned special breathing techniques to help him function under the crushing forces of liftoff and reentry he learned firsthand the sensations he would encounter in a tumbling spacecraft and learn to control the craft's attitude and various dynamic conditions astronaut cooper flew dozens of training missions on the ground in space flight simulators he learned operational procedures and emergency techniques he became as familiar with his mercury spacecraft is with his own home and if something went wrong with that spacecraft he was trained to survive on the desert in the open sea wherever he might be forced to land in an emergency by the morning of may 15 1963 astronaut gordon cooper engineer test pilot was as ready to orbit the earth as his own intelligence and the resources of science could make him ready as a man a highly qualified person but more than that was required he must also be prepared as the component man part of the control loop of a space flight system obtaining medical knowledge of man's mind and body in a period of sustained space flight was the most important goal of the mission to take his temperature a new oral thermometer was used when not in use by the astronaut it is stowed on the right earmuff of the helmet and served to confirm suit outlet temperature it consists of a thermistor embedded in a latex probe and has a range from 75 to 105 degrees fahrenheit delicate sensors obtain heartbeat and respiration rates they're placed on the torso and under each arm at the sixth rib level an electrolyte material aids in conducting the electrical signals this tiny microphone is worn by the astronaut for taking his blood pressure it is positioned over the brachial artery on the upper left arm to measure his blood pressure the pilot presses a button on his instrument panel a special cuff is inflated on his arm much like those in everyday use in a doctor's office the electrical outputs of the microphone and cuff pressure like other bodily measurements are fed into this single telemetry unit are converted into electronic signals and transmitted by radio to doctors on earth repeated use of this exerciser during flight was also programmed to yield additional cardiovascular data on exertion while weightless relatively free movement of his hands and arms is possible for the astronaut during normal flight since his suit is not normally pressurized the atmosphere within his cabin is maintained at a life-supporting pressure in an emergency however should the cabin lose its pressurization the suit would be automatically pressurized to protect the astronaut a careful test of the suit is made just before flight to be sure there are no leaks when gordon cooper left the astronaut preparation facility hangar s at cape canaveral to board the transfer van that would take him to the gantry he knew that his spacecraft had also been prepared for the mission with meticulous care faith seven had been mated to its atlas launch vehicle days before over 100 changes had been made from previous mercury spacecraft time consuming changes in miles of wiring in solenoids valves dials and even in screws and bolts the most important ones such as removal of the periscope were designed to reduce weight and increase space for storing greater quantities of consumables oxygen attitude control system fuel food and water new instruments such as cameras antennas and a metal sphere with flashing lights in addition to medical studies 12 special experiments were scheduled the 95-foot space vehicle consists of the reliable three-engine atlas booster and sustainer the spacecraft and the escape tower mated together these major components of mercury atlas nine were a towering tribute to the energy and brains of the nationwide industrial team which created and united them from almost every state in the union materials designs parts components and assemblies had come to this florida beach from the thousands of men and women working in the nation's effort to succeed in space no one was more aware of the work of more than 50 000 people leading up to this moment than astronaut cooper as he entered the spacecraft he was fortified by the knowledge that thousands more would be standing by from mercury control center to stations around the world emergency rescue forces were ready to come to his aid in the event of failure or catastrophe during liftoff and other rescue crews were stationed at strategic points beneath his flight path in case of emergency landing before the completion of the program 22 orbits the day before the ma9 flight had been postponed due to a radar problem at the bermuda tracking station the man the space vehicle and the support systems must check out 100 before liftoff there's no margin for error when a man is launched into the void of space on may 15 1963 the countdown proceeded faultlessly around the world all tracking stations were green for goal roger regular let me know how do you read when i'm now reading you loud and clear our status is green roger 465 is at t minus 24 minutes and counting ma9 the vast and intricate edifice itself responded perfectly to the careful scrutiny of men like those who had built it standby for status here go go sequence go electrical go afcs go rcs so tom go dm go co go flight go tony i'm go so i have your ready light project aramaic verify ready light pyramid booster interlock to go go instrumentation communications the spacecraft's automatic stabilization and control system ascs environmental control systems all were go five eight seven six five four three [Music] two standing by to start the back up clock roger three two one mark roger and the backup clock is running what's good right there feels good buddy good sport 30 seconds and fuel is go oxygen is go cabin pressure on the top peg altimeter is working roger you're looking beautiful as the spacecraft reached maximum dynamic pressure all systems were go as it rises the vehicle is acquired and tracked by radar its automatic control is switched to the ground station in the outer atmosphere the vehicle is tilted toward the horizontal course the escape tower remains in position to pull the spacecraft away from the launch vehicle in an emergency at about two minutes fifteen seconds of flight beco or booster engine cut off will occur china animation will show events beyond camera range the sustainer engine drives faith seven toward orbital speed and altitude when the spacecraft can escape with its own posigrade rockets the tower is jettisoned and there goes the power takeoff at 100 miles up and a speed of thousand five hundred forty four miles per hour sea co sustainer engine cut off occurs as faith seven is inserted into orbit one second later it separates from the launch vehicle and step camp green sequel i'm on off stamp going fly by wire everything is green here faith 7 was inserted into orbit exactly in the center of its programmed envelope using fly-by-wire control astronaut cooper then turned the spacecraft so that it traveled with the retro rockets and the heat shield facing forward this way the retro rockets could be fired to reduce speed and end orbital flight if necessary the small jets of hydrogen peroxide which change the spacecraft's attitude have no major effect on the path or velocity of the orbital flight at 14 minutes 53 seconds contact was made with a canary islands tracking station this is canary capcom roger canary capcom phase 7 reading you loud and clear what temperatures would you like over capcom is the capsule communicator in contact with a spacecraft at each tracking station in addition 28 ships and 172 aircraft were stationed around the world in pre-selected recovery areas contingency forces were also ready in the event of emergency landing this is landsat capcom how do you read rogers and bar reading you loud and clear faith here an added advantage of having a man performing in the space flight environment was indicated by astronaut cooper's ability to keep a detailed record of his flight on the onboard tape recorder for example approaching his first night first night side and i have a bright blue band a thick diffused van blue car a bright blue band the sun spread out very widely is setting now [Applause] loud and clear from the perigee or low point of 100 miles over bermuda to the apogee or high point of 166 miles over australia the first orbit was nearly perfect capcom at guayamas mexico gave astronaut cooper his go for seven orbits all right roger for 30 how many roger if all was well in the seventh orbit he would get a go for seventeen then for the full twenty two meantime he began the special experiments the first was the use of this slow scan television camera to relay pictures to the ground at the rate of one picture every two seconds these pictures resulted from a transmission over florida fifteen minutes before sunset on the third orbit major cooper prepared to eject this sphere or beacon for another experiment to find out how well man can see flashing lights in space to help with rendezvous and docking maneuvers in future space programs and i have my line fly by wire i've armed the square pitching up very very slowly [Applause] and we'll deploy the flashing light minus 20 degree point flashlight is deployed once ejected the beacon assumed its own orbit which kept it at varying distances from the spacecraft major cooper was unable to find it on the third orbit however on the next orbit he saw the light clearly quite discernible not the order of a second magnitude star now beyond 10 or 12 miles the flashing beacon became less discernible in the fourth orbit also the first of a series of tests were begun to measure radiation in space where a belt of fission electrons trapped in the lower regions of the earth's magnetic field would be penetrated by faith seven on orbits passing over eastern south america and the south atlantic ocean primarily the measurements were made by two geiger counters located on the retro pack one of the geiger counters surveyed a hemisphere-shaped area unobstructed by the spacecraft and unaffected by radiation scattered by its structure the other registered radiation directly in the path of travel trapped electrons spiraling along the earth's magnetic flux lines were primarily the source of radiation several devices were provided to measure radiation piercing to the interior of the spacecraft a pocket ion chamber or dosimeter a film patch attached to the hatch of the spacecraft a photographic emulsion pack carried on the instrument panel and four film patches worn beneath one in his helmet the other three on his body the packages contained two kinds of film one sensitive to protons one sensitive only to electrons both the nature and the amount of exterior and interior radiation at the mercury orbit altitude were ascertained during the flight and found to be well below the level harmful to man astronaut cooper was able to drink water successfully in his weightless condition but he had some difficulty in transferring the water needed to make some of his packaged food edible experimental foods were freeze-dried and dehydrated so that adding water would restore their taste and consistency other foods were packaged in bite-sized bits small sandwiches brownies and other dessert type foods were easily eaten other experiments were highly successful for example on the sixth orbit astronaut cooper clearly saw a three million candle power light shining up from bomb fontaine africa such a light may be used to guide future moon explorers on their return to earth he carried out several experimental photographic assignments such as taking pictures of the earth's horizon or limb which may also serve as a navigation fix in longer space flights another photographic research project involved use of a 35 millimeter camera to shoot two dim light phenomena best observed beyond the earth's atmosphere one is called zodiacal light believed to be a weak reflection of sunlight from free electrons and dust particles the other dim light phenomenon he photographed was the earth night air glow layer a weak three colored band of light around the earth time exposures with a 35 millimeter camera will yield data on the height and intensity of these layers and on solar energy conversion processed in the upper atmosphere infrared photography of the earth on black and white film was also performed for the weather bureau to obtain data for the design of improved television cameras in future weather satellites from time to time the astronaut also shot color pictures of scenes selected at random this picture was taken of the atlas mountains of africa this is a view of the himalayas the philippine islands major cooper also proved that deep normal sleep is possible in a weightless condition beginning his rest period on the ninth orbit with occasional interruptions for short reports onto his tape recorder he slept well for several hours in addition to the telemetered medical data awake and asleep on his heart rate respiration and blood pressure his voice pitch was monitored to determine his psychological condition the flight proceeded with textbook perfection even after the cabin cooling system was turned off and using only the suit cooling system cabin temperature stabilized at 96 degrees and suit inlet temperature at 59 degrees fahrenheit far less oxygen and attitude control system fuel were used than had been anticipated during the 15th night during his 22nd hour in space astronaut cooper recorded a personal prayer portions of which follow i would like to take this time to say a little prayer to all the people thank you for the privilege of being able to be in this position and having this wondrous place and all these startling wondrous things that you've created to be with all our families let them know that everything will be okay the textbook flight continued all systems go all perfect on his 16th orbit astronaut cooper sent greetings to the summit meeting of african statesmen hello africa this is astronaut gordon cooper speaking from faith i am right now over 100 miles above africa speaking to the zanzibar station just a few minutes ago i passed addis ababa i want to wish success to your leaders there good luck to all of you in africa all clear all systems perfect orbits 15 16 17 18 18 times around the earth orbit 19 began at the 20th minute of the 28th hour faith 7 and astronaut cooper were out of voice contact from bermuda around more than half the world to hawaii all right roger i wonder if uh you'd relay to the cape uh little situation i head up and see what they think on it while turning uh my warning lights off and back onto them my 05 g tele-light came on in my tele-light panel the 0.05 gravity light normally comes on after retro rockets have been fired and the spacecraft has begun to fall toward the earth it indicates deceleration on encountering the atmosphere but faith seven was maintaining its orbital path and velocity therefore the question was whether the 0.05 gravity switch alone had been triggered by a short circuit or whether the entire automatic control system had skipped the programmed retro rocket and reentry phase astronaut cooper's message was immediately relayed from hawaii to mercury control center by the time he passed over cape canaveral beginning his twentieth orbit nasa and contractor engineers had broken down complete schematic diagrams of the spacecraft and were ready to spell out certain tests for the astronaut to make to determine the seriousness of the unscheduled light by testing the automatic stabilization and control systems ability to acquire attitudes astronaut cooper determined that his ascs system was not operating he performed more tests and exchanged information directly with tracking stations and by relay with mercury control at cape canaveral a machine seldom makes a mistake but a machine fails a man must not fail between the man in the spacecraft and the men on the ground it was determined that astronaut cooper would have to fire his retro rockets and control reentry by hand his autopilot had failed without a man to bring the ship down safely the spacecraft and the mission's most valuable data would have been lost the task was difficult but the man was trained on his final orbit astronaut cooper completed final checklists for retro fire and re-entry reported final data each error of one second in timing would cause a five mile error in landing point near midway at the selected recovery area for the twenty second orbit the carrier kiersarge smaller rescue ships and aircraft had been alerted and were ready for emergency procedures a minute error in faith seven's reentry attitude could also result in a perilous under or overshoot of the recovery area at the 30th second of the 56th minute of the 33rd hour of flight astronaut cooper contacted john glenn on the coastal central quebec near japan i'm looking for lots of experience on this flight again ten seconds before the 34th hour of flight to assist astronaut cooper in the critical timing john glenn began the final countdown four three two one fire well rockets on the second he jettisoned his retro pack as the tremendous speed of the spacecraft re-entering the atmosphere built up a temperature of 3000 degrees fahrenheit the ionized air cut off radio contact for a short time now it was a matter of waiting hoping for contact to be re-established hoping for accuracy hoping the chutes would open and hold faith 7 was picked up by radar 184 miles out and falling fast shortly thereafter the main parachute was cited [Music] and so it ended 34 hours 20 minutes 31 seconds the flight of a man in space 22 times around the earth 540 000 miles farther than to the moon and back ended within seconds of its program time and within four and a half miles of the carrier kearsarge all right i'd like to come aboard the carrier but they'll grant me permission for an air force troop the flight of faith seven was over a great deal of data was still to be gathered but from the immediate medical checkout of the astronaut before he emerged from the spacecraft to preliminary post-flight analyses the flight seemed to have proved man's capability of efficient functioning in a period of prolonged weightlessness in space as a pilot astronaut cooper had come a long way from the time as a six-year-old he was allowed to handle the controls of his father's old single-engine biplane as a man he had once again provided proof and a deed of valor that individual men will risk or give their lives so that all men may ascend from ignorance into the light of greater knowledge in the words of president kennedy peace has their victories as well as war and this was one of the victories for the human spirit today [Music] you