Friendship Seven: Nasa

down is once again underway at Cape canaval the attempt to launch Astronaut John Glenn into and Report the astronaut's condition as excellent col and then astronaut Glenn Still Remains the question mark But for John Glenn they down again underway J is our witness the countdown begins at cap of man's greatest Adventures it begins here with these men for they are the launch Team and from now until the instant of flight the fate of today's Mission rests principally upon their skills and judgments the countdown is their master plan and they proceed through its ritual unhurried deliberation its Pages contain the timetable of order they must follow to awaken a giant machine to test its Readiness and to prime it for the one supreme moment for which it was created now meter reads 19 volt 12 Vol stand bound now meter reads 11.5 minute after minute page upon page the count continues and in the night Beyond this Block House a modified Air Force Atlas rocket now hums with Restless energy beneath a Mercury spacecraft as these men Usher it toward its final minutes on Earth today is February 20th 1962 and today if all goes well the men here will launch an American astronaut into orbit around the world in a spacecraft which he has named friendship 7 [Music] [Applause] friendship 7 awaits its pilot and the pilot has waited 3 years for this day three long of training of waiting and his name is John Glenn [Music] of two teenage children Glenn has been a pilot over half of his 40 years has flown in two Wars and as a veteran test pilot who 5 years earlier established a transcontinental flight record as the first man to aage supersonic speeds Across America he volunteered for space flight his one of Seven astronauts selected for project Mercury the man in space program directed by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration mates have pioneered the way into space for Glenn astronauts Allan Shephard and Virgil Gren tested the Mercury spacecraft on trailblazing suborbital missions proving the equipment and pushing the program to the threshold of orbital flight and now it's Glenn's turn ready for pration Glenn Falls the challenge of man's next Advance into space for he has been chosen to cross the threshold gained by Shephard and Gren and to orbit the work so the countdown continues for John Glenn and it continues Beyond this room for friendships and it continues this moment around the world [Music] these are John Glenn's groundbased co-pilots men he knows well with whom he's trained and in whose judgment his life is entrusted this day they are the flight controllers and from the Mercury control center within view of the launch complex they make the decisions issue the commands that will govern the course of the mission to these men throughout the flight will flood the facts needed for decision the scope of their responsibility of the entire operation defies comprehension now this very instance the countdown for flight continues around the world on three on Islands in ships and PLS in lands where it's summer and tomorrow is near and lands where is winter and this day is just [Music] beginning Roger recovery Roger CTC Mery control center as go [Music] Northeast of Cape canabal 1,000 mil into the Atlantic dawn's early light spills over the British Crown Colony of Bermuda and Station 2 in the Mercury Network proceeds with the countdown the tracking and Telemetry stations 18 and all form an Avenue of electronic checkpoints around the world to Monitor and communicate with friendship 7 as it passes overhead [Applause] okay this isud okay if radar is the eyes of the station then Telemetry is the ears each second Telemetry will hear and record nearly 2,000 items of information radio down from Friendship 7 and in the month to come engineers and scientists will find in Telemetry records the answers needed for the boulder space explorations of the future displays and Recorders have been calibrated Roger thank you FL this is go ahead all sub system status green Roo understand all systems green latitude 5° north longitude 10° West a spot in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Africa and station three the rosenut Waits under the late morning sun for John Glenn operating out of trenidad rosenut will communicate with friendship 7 and monitor its Journey as it Street across the empty ocean and out over Africa operations this is Bridge we're proceeding at slow speed at about 5 knots the course is 1 N8 through over [Music] beyond the Mercury station on Grand Canary Island in the Spanish archipelago off of the African Coast it's midday at station 5 in cono Nigeria deep in the continent of Africa flight data recorded here at Koo and at Zanzibar on Africa's East Coast will relay through this transmitting station to London and then on to [Music] America far to the southeast of Koo beyond the Zanzibar station the ship's Bell of the coastal sentury tolls the Twilight of day in The Emptiness of the Indian Ocean [Music] to the east some 2,500 miles from the coastal Cent dusk blankets the Network's eth station at mé near P Western Australia Halfway Around The World from Cape canabo Cod display okay that's fine just uh tweaker up on here today February 20th is fast fading over the a Australian tracking sites at mé and WRA and when Glenn arrives tomorrow we'll greet him but north and east across the Pacific far beyond the Mercury station on the coral at called Canton Island February 20th is just minutes old on Hawaii's Garden Island of kawaii and there men prepare for the arrival of friendship ready for 165 checker L all right Eastward again deeper into the day that will soon awaken over the Americas Eastward to the Gulf of California and to the Mercury station at wus Mexico real good just waiting for Lift Off motm status green proceeding with prepass calibrations north of Mexico in the pre- dawn along the west coast of the United States The Mountaintop station at Point arello California Waits out the long countdown ready to track John Glenn All Roger aade what is the present count All Roger Southeast now to the farmlands of Texas where the station at Corpus Christie continues its preparations for flight pleas Roger all systems would you please commence pre-flight calibrations at this time since the countdown is progressing normally advise me when you have completed them far to the the north and east of Corpus Christi beats the heart of the worldwide Mercury Network the Computing and Communication Center that bonds it into a working entity this is the Gard space flight center in Green Belt Maryland through here funnels the voice and teletype Communications that link the global stations to Mercury control the computers enable men to reach judgments within the flashes of time allowed for control of a spacecraft that mve moves faster than a brain can react throughout the flight the computers will generate recommendations on whether the mission should continue or be aborted they will determine locations of the spacecraft the time it should begin re-entry the point at which it will land and the most vital of these findings will be transmitted instantaneously to Cape canaberal [Music] around the world all is ready the men the stations the space vehicle and now reporters learn from the astronauts information officer if the most vital of all elements is ready the man himself John Glenn [Music] what are the thoughts of a man about to Rocket into history Glenn is the astronaut the man who will challenge space but he is just one member of an international scientific Endeavor that requires the genius and skills of some 40,000 other men and women scattered throughout the world from the engineers and technicians who produced the space vehicle to the crews now preparing to launch it from the tracking experts who will chart his voyage around the globe to the sailors now waiting at Sea to recover him behind this day stands years of preparation of research and testing of planning and training and the purpose of it all is knowledge knowledge of space and of how effectively man and spacecraft can function together in its hostile environment knowledge that will serve as the basis for space explorations of the future hard one knowledge of benefit to all men bought by sacrifice and dedication and [Music] courage now just a handful of minutes remain until the spacecraft crew on the service Tower call for the pilot of friendship 7 [Music] [Applause] [Music] Roger lead if you on astronaut already you can proceed with insertion okay uh John ready on [Music] [Applause] [Music] the sound of John Glenn's life his heartbeat you he will flow from Friendship 7 throughout the flight informing those on the ground how well he endures the trials ahead into the soft light of this Florida Dawn emerges friendship 7 making its debut to the day of its Destiny the Mercury Atlas stands alone waiting to depart this Earth a quarter of a million PB of rocket with thrust equal to 3 and2 million horsepower all to hurdle a 168 lb astronaut into space all stations gantri is in launch position AMR CNS band beacons are on start interrogation in one minute the countdown sweeps closer to the moment at the cape and around the world ready themselves to Aid the astronaut Above All Else John Glenn's safety is is Paramount the dictating factor in all planning never in all of history have so many people shared without censorship an adventure of such magnitude through all news media and all languages all the peoples of the world are witness to this exploration of space to its success or failure T minus 15 minutes Mark T minus 15 minutes and Counting there will be no smoking and a block house until further notice okay this is from go ahead we just on our computer stand by for an estimate Roger standing by estimate 5 minutes okay 5 minutes you want us to continue to count I suggest you take it down to tus 7 we'll uh we may have it by then you want us to hold Bermuda um we would like to hold at seven and rerun a b Sim uh we lost our main power on the computer and we just want to check that nothing else has gone wrong what do you estimate somewhere between 5 and 10 minutes C can't you expedite make it five all stations are holding at 6 minutes and 30 seconds estimate 5 minutes we just got to go you ready are you ready to continue okay go ahead go ahead your attention please on my Mark we will pick up the count at tus 6 minutes and 30 seconds in counting the time nears and soon this Earth path indicator in the capsule will begin showing John Glenn his changing positions above the world Mark 57 seconds standby to start Epi on my mark two one Mark rogeri is 4 status check pressurization locks tanking blinking high level light you are go Water Systems range operations capsule go all pre-art panel lights are correct the ready light is on eject Mercury umbilical oil evacuate Mercury umbilical clear mercur all recorders to fast tus 18 seconds and counting engine start the good Lord ride all the way speed John Glenn 10 9 8 [Music] 7 5 [Applause] [Music] 4 20 seconds Roger backup clock is started 10211 oygen 78 100 amps 27 Roger loud and clear fight is good 69 [Applause] [Music] 60 seconds 65 and still looks real good from here 70 seconds leaving a nice Vaper Trail now looks real fine looks good G got it 80 Seconds and looks real good from here 85 [Music] 90 95 flame p is bellowing out now Cape is go we're standing by for you Roger Cape is go and I am go our capsule is in good shape steel 10312 oxygen 78100 cabin pressure holding steady at 58 amps is 26 all systems are go seconds SEO sustainer engine cut off the moment when the final Atlas engine will shut down when friendship 7 should separate from the booster rocket and begin orbital flight [Applause] of great fired okay Roger z g and I feel fine capsule is turning around oh that view is [Music] tremendous to John Glenn now belongs an awesome Panorama the world curving beneath him just as it was filmed from an earlier Mercury capsule and I could see the booster during turnaround just a couple of hundred yards behind me it was beautiful Roger s you have a go at least seven or can see clear back a big cloud way back across to Cape beautiful [Music] sight Roger still loud and clear next transmission Bermuda understand next transmission [Music] Bermuda hat Roger Premier to standby this is friendship 7 fuel 103 101 oxygen 78 100 this is very comfortable at z g I have uh very fine feeling it just feels uh very normal and very gooder friendship how does he look Bermuda looks real good okay uh surgeon reports everything okay all systems okay good voice contact both ways Roger uh friendship 7 anything to report on control system checks not yet everything appears to be going okay I'm now on the Y part of the check off right on schedule very good very good so far is excellent very good no problems at all so far on control Roger friendship 7 us Bermuda you're cutting out on UHF if you read go to hfer Friendship s bermudo Capcom on HF [Applause] friend [Applause] sship S I read you very weak give me status on control system check [Music] please Horizon is ail blue there I have the uh mainland in sight at present time coming up on the beautiful view of the African Coast both in the scope and out the window out the window is by the best view part of the canaries was H by clouds I can see dust storms down there blowing across the desert a lot of dust is difficult to see the ground in some areas over friendship s this is Con Capcom I read you loud and clear how do you read me over Roger loud and clear uh Roger loud and clear uh what is your status over this is my status is excellent I feel fine over uh Roger I monitored part of your transmission over Canary and heard your comments on the weather over Africa we've had Dusty weather here and uh as far as we can see a lot of this part of Africa is covered with dust just exactly the way it looks for up here too uh Roger will you give us uh status report over right this is fuel 998 oygen 78 100 cabin pressure holding 56 at present time and preparing to take zy still at time Roger do you want to stand by for retro sequence time area one Charlie Roger going back on ascf yard check okay different display than I had really anticipated but it okay and I can pick up I to be friendship s you are fading rapidly across Africa races friendship 7 at 17,0 545 mph 300 M a minute 4 mil for every heartbeat of John [Music] Glenn friendship seven streaks through the night of tomorrow and races toward the dawn of [Music] yesterday above the Indian Ocean flashes friendship 7 far beyond human sight seen only by the electronic instruments of the coastal Sentry as she records the lightning passage of the man in space [Music] face for John Glenn The Familiar time references of Earth no longer apply for he J around our world in just 88 minutes out racing the Sun that needs 20 24 hours to circle the same [Music] Globe friendship s friendship 7 this is M cont friendship s this is M contct over M this is friendship reading you loud and clear me uh Roger 7 Capcom me over Roger how you doing Gordo we're doing real fine up here everything is going very well over very good John you sound good Rog that was sure a short day time passes rapidly huh yes sir shortly you may observe some lights down there you want to take a check on them out to your right over Roger I'm all set to see if I can't get them in sight Roger uh any SS of vertigo or nausey at all over negative no symptoms whatsoever I feel fine over good show Roger I do have uh a lights sight on the ground over Roger understand just off to your right there that's affirmative just to my right I can see a big pattern of Lights apparently right on the coast uh I can see the outline of a town and a very bright light just to the south of it Roger that's per and Rockingham you're seeing there Roger the light are very well and thank everybody for turning them on will you Roger sure well John [Music] on U receive over Roger friendship s loud and clear over this is with you also are we still go from C over Roger we still go Roger all systems are going the capule Friendship seven grimus if uh you have a chance could you give us a blood pressure check over we'll give blood pressure check I still have some of these particles that I cannot identify coming around the capsule occasionally over uh Roger how big are these particles over uh very small I would indicate they're of the order of 16th of an inch or smaller uh they drift by the window and I can see them against the dark sky uh just as at just at Sunrise there were literally thousands of them it look like just a myriad of stars over [Music] L Los loss of signal wus has lost contact and friendship 7 streaks home an unseen Comet darting across the land of its origin how do you copy you and over clear stand Rog capc Roger this is friendship 7 I'm controlling fly by present time I have no left jaw low thrust minor trouble aboard friendship set a malfunction in the automatic control system was caused good like fashion away from its proper flight attitude but Glenn is overriding the faulty system and now manually controls friendship 7 on fly by wire directing its movements by hand control much like a pilot flies a plane fly wire friendship s this is C Capcom standing by friendship s we have a Telemetry solid and check all your systems out okay uh we will remind you to start pre- Dark Side checklist as soon as you lose contact us friendship s friendship s this is m cont friendship seven this is M cont do read over okay this is friendship s Capcom will you confirm that your Landing bag switch position over that is affirmative Landing bag switch is in the center off position Roger you haven't had any banging noises or anything of this Tye higher rates they wanted this m behind that routine report the first hint of potential disaster it came when astronaut Cooper relayed a request from Mercury control asking Glenn to check the status lights for the capsule's landing impact bag Glenn reports status normal are now receiving an ominous chilling signal an indication that the heat shield on friendship 7 seems to have come loose friendship s Hawaii contct Hawaii friendship s over friendship s this is a y cap uh do you still consider yourself go for the next orbit affirmative I am go for the next orbit Roger understand it MCC confirms that they are go at the present time for third orbit friendship s friendship s this is California com California do you read [Music] over California cap ra right much better now W very good John the AR meds are real happy with you you look real good up there all right fine glad everything's working out I feel real good Wally no problems at all good show we're real pleased to let you goodbye this time we'll see you next time around this is mercury control we now have a contact with our wus Mexico station and with the Corpus Christie Texas tracking station the Friendship 7 spacecraft is now committed to its third orbit this is mercury control in Mercury control at Cape canabal a decision must be made and soon the signal pulsing down from Friendship 7 indicates still that the heat shield is loose could the signal be erroneous there is no way to tell but if it's true then John Glenn could perish in a searing Inferno when he plunges back into the atmosphere the rockets that slow the spacecraft and head it back toward Earth are strapped Over The Shield if they were left on after retr fire instead of being jettisoned as in normal re-entry then their straps might hold the shield in place before they burn off they might possibly save Glenn from the 3,000 de of re-entry heat until he's deep enough into the atmosphere for its Force to hold the shield in place but the decision must be made soon even now Glenn is streaking toward the United States and he must begin the sequence 300 M west of California if he's to land in the planned recovery area 700 M south and east of Florida we'll give you the countdown uh for retro sequence time John you're looking good Roger we only have 5 Seconds to retrograde over that's airm I'll give you a mark of 45 Mark California California this is Cap flight go ahead uh we'd like to leave the package on at least through Texas so keep tell him to keep his retro jettison switch off uh John leave your retro pack on your Passover Texas second 5 4 3 2 1 fire Roger Retros are firing oh Roger baby are they ever it feels like I'm going back toward a away don't do that you want to go on the East Coast Roger fire retro light is green Roger rer ret keep your retro pack on until you pass Texas that's affirmative good looking flight from what we've seen yes sir looks good Wally we'll see you back East Texas Capcom flight go ahead flight go ahead uh we have decided to reenter with the pack on this is Texas cap PR 7 we are recommending that you leave the Retro package on through the entire re-entry this means that you will have to override the 05g switch which is expected to occur at 0443 3 this also means that you will have to manually retract the scope do you read uh this is friendship seven what is the reason for this do you have any reason over not at this time this is the Judgment of gate flight Roger say again your instructions please over we are recommending that the Retro package not is say3 this is approximately 4 and2 minutes from now this also means that you will have to retract the scope manually do you understand I Roger understand I will have to make a manual uh 05g entry when it occurs and bring the scope in uh manually is that affirm that is affirmative friend s Roger go ahead FR s i and retract the scope manually at this time Roger retracting scope manually uh while you're doing that we're not sure whether or not your Landing bag has deployed uh we feel it's far safer to reenter with the Retro package on we see no typ of reentry over Roger understand [Applause] rer friendship [Laughter] s go ahead keep you're drown you're going [Music] out retro pack upon reaching one to one and a half G do you stand over this isting blind suddenly all contact with John Glenn and friendship 7 is lost this is friendship seven I think the pack just let go friendship s this is do your this friendship s real Fireball outside s over s this ESC do you the furnace likee heat of re-entry has created a barrier of ionization around friendship 7 holding all voice communication [Music] alone he plunges back toward Earth a fiery [Music] meteorite H over friend ising do you sh 7 receive over the thickening atmosphere breaks his descent slowing friendship 7 from 17,500 M hour to 1,300 mph in slightly over 3 minutes and the forces of gravity Slam against John Glenn until he weighs eight times his normal weight [Music] [Applause] [Music] okay 7 receive over Escape transmitting blind your of the U Destroyer voice call is steelhead is the code name for the Destroyer Noah waiting to recover friendship 7 but John Glenn cannot hear the message around 44 free flight I was about on time keep talking out friendship s this is cap over right reading and how you doing my condition is good but that was real Fireball boy I had great retro P breaking off all the way through good it break off is that correct Roger Al off the P indicating 8000 and clear rocking quite a bit I may still have some of that pack on I can't damp it [Applause] either TR tiip seven going to Dro early it's Rocky Thro came out Dro is out Roger Dro came out at 30,000 and about a 90° YW Roger Dr looks good scope did not come out R you're pumping the scope [Applause] outry checkl complete standing by [Applause] coming down on 10 starles are [Music] open Roger main is on green sh is out in re condition at 10,800 FT and beautiful shoot shoot looks good on O2 emergency and the shoot looks very good rate of descent has gone to about 42 feet per second the shoot looks very good hello Mercury recovery this is friendship s do steel loud and C Roger steel head friendship seven the shoot looks very good over [Music] home is the Voyager behind a journey of 81,000 mil through 3 days and 3 nights in Just 4 hours and 56 minutes at 3:04 p.m. Eastern Standard Time friendship 7 comes to rest aboard the United States Destroyer Noah and John Glenn returns to the people of Earth a change of clothes a breath of cool air a short debriefing then Glenn leaves the Noah heading for the aircraft carrier Randolph under the golden Splendor of his fourth Sunset of the day [Music] for [Music] his name John hersel Glenn Jr Lieutenant Colonel United States Marine Corps married father of two teenage children today John Glenn and the Mercury Team Challenge space and they won [Applause] John Glenn dared space brave men will find tomorrow and in the tomorrow's we to explore Universe around us [Music] [Applause] [Music]