. .

*.

NATIONAL AERONAUTlCS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION

1520 H STREET. NORTHWEST . WASHINGTON 2 5 . D. C.
TELEPHONES: DUDLEY 3-6325 * EXECUTIVE 3 - 3 2 6 0

FOR RELEASE: Thursday AM's

FELEASE NO. .61-82 A p r i l 20, 1961

PROJECT MERCURY ESCAPE SYSTEltl: TEST

LITTLE JOE SEVEN

I n t h e forthcoming L i t t l e J o e VI1 launch, s e v e n d i n a

s e r i e s of P r o j e c t Mercury r e s e a r c h f l i g h t s from Wallops
S t a t i o n , V i r g i n i a , a p r o d u c t i o n l i n e Mercury s p a c e c r a f t w i l l
be s u b j e c t e d t o maximum aerodynamic l o a d s and p r e s s u r e s i n
a n escape maneuver,
The f l i g h t w i l l provide b a s i c i n f o r m a t i o n on t h e f l i g h t
c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s of t h e Mercury s p a c e c r a f t , t h e escape
system, and o t h e r components uncler t h e most s e v e r e atmos-
p h e r i c f l i g h t c o n d i t i o n s that can be a n t i c i p a t e d i n any of
t h e launches proglaarhmed f o r t h e s p a c e c r a f t .
The Mercury escape maneuver, designed p r i m a r i l y to
pPovide an a s t r o n a u t w i t h means of s e p a r a t i n g h i s s p z c e c r a f t
fram a f a u l t y b o o s t e r . d u r i n g powered f l i g h t , i n v o l v e s f o u r
basic s t e p s :
1. S e p a r a t i o n of a t h r e e - p i e c e clamp r i n g holding
t h e s p a c e c r a f t t o t h e launching v e h i c l e ,
2. F i r i n g a 60,000-pound t h r u s t s o l i d p r o p e l l a n t
escape r o c k e t a t o p a 16-foot s t r u c t u r a l s t e e l pylon tower
above t h e s p a c e c r a f t ,
3 . S e p a r a t i n g the exhausted escape r o c k e t and i t s
s u p p o r t i n g tower from t h e upper neck of t h e s p a c e c r a f t .
4, I n i t i a t i n g a p a r a c h u t e sequence,
L i t t l e J o e V I 1 w i l l be launched a t a nominal f l f g h t
path angle of 82 d e g r e e s , The e i g h t and one-half minute
f l i g h t w i l l carry t h e s p a c e c r a f t t o a peak a l t i t u d e of
about 45,000 f e e t and about s i x miles from t h e launch
s i t e under no-wind c o n d i t i o n s ,
...
.

Tile Little J o e s o l i d - p r o p e l l a n t b o o s t e r i s programmed

t o burn o u t i n about 30 seconds. Some t h r e e seconds
l a t e r , a timing d e v i c e i n t h e s p a c e c r a f t w i l l i n i t i a t e a
s i g n a l t o t r i g g e r t h e escape sequence a t about 35,000 f e e t .
The f l i g h t p l a n c a l l s f o r j e t t i s o n of t h e escape t o w e r
a t peak a l t i t u d e a t about one minute a f t e r launch a f t e r a
s u c c e s s f u l escape sequence, A s t h e s p a c e c r a f t begins i t s
fall toward e a r t h , a drogue p a r a c h u t e u n f u r l s a t about 75
seconds a f t e r l i f t o f f and t h e l a r g e r main chute i s p u l l e d
about t h r e e minutes a f t e r launch a t 10,000 f e e t ,
Spacecraft instrumentation f o r t h e L i t t l e Joe V I 1 f l i g h t
i n c l u d e s t e l e m e t r y , on-board t a p e r e c o r d e r s , and groufid and
a i r b o r n e cameras. The s p a c e c r a f t w i l l be p r i m a r i l y t r a c k e d
b y ' r a d a r u n i t s a t Wallops S t a t i o n .
The L i t t l e J o e launch v e h i c l e i s normally made up of
f o u r s o l i d p r o p e l l a n t C a s t o r r o c k e t s and f o u r s m a l l e r s o l i d
p r o p e l l a n t r e c r u i t r o c k e t s c l u s t e r e d w i t h i n t h e airfram-a as
a single-stage vehicle.
For t h e L i t t l e J o e VI1 t e s t , two C a s t o r s are dummies and
w i l l c a r r y b a l l a s t rather t h a n p r o p e l l a n t . The f i n - s t a b i l i z e d
launch v e h i c l e , i n combination w i t h t h e Mercury s p a c e c r a f t ,
weighs approximately 40,000 pounds a t launch, i s about 6 s
f e e t i n diameter, and measures 25 f e e t i n l e n g t h without t h e
spacecraft.
I n the l a s t L i t t l e J o e f l i g h t from Wallops S t a t i o n ,
March 18, a sinai;lar l o w - a l t i t u d e escape maneuver was only
p a r t l y successful because c a p s u l e s e p a r a t i o n sequences f a i l e d
t o take p l a c e i n p r o p e r o r d e r , I n t h e L i t t l e J o e V I t e s t ,
the escape r o c k e t f i r e d prematurely.
The L i t t l e J o e V I s p a c e c r a f t was recovered from t h e
A t l a n t i c Ocean s h o r t l y a f t e r t h e t e s t and r e t u r n e d t o t h e
McDonnell A i r c r a f t Corp. i n St. Louis, Mo., where it w a s
prepaped for the L i t t l e J o e V I 1 f l i g h t .
Wiring changes have been i n c o r p o r a t e d t o provide g r e a t e r
a s s u r a n c e t h a t the escape maneuver w i l l occur i n t h e L i t t l e
J o e VI1 f l i g h t a t t h e p r o p e r t i m e and a l t i t u d e where maximum
aerodynamic l o a d s are e x e r t e d on t h e c r a f t .
A l a n d i n g bag w i l l n o t be attached t o the s p a c e c r a f t f o r
t h e L i t t l e J o e V I 1 f l i g h t , a d e c i s i o n which s u b s t a n t i a l l y
reduced t h e t i m e r e q u i r e d f o r launch p r e p a r a t i o n s , Other

- 2 -
 l a n d i n g t e s t s i n r e c e n t weeks have p r o v i d e d adequate q i a l i -
f i c a t i o n f o r the l a n d i n g bag, a f'our-foot s k i r t extending
from t h e c a p s u l e base t o help absorb t h e 20-mile-an-hour
l a n d i n g j o l t . A l a n d i n g bag was a p a r t of t h e L i t t l e Joe
.
I:' s p a c e c r a f t
P r i n c i p a l s i n t h e L i t t l e J o e V I 1 t e s t w i l l be Lewis R.
F i s h e r , S p a c e c r a f t P r o j e c t Engineer; W i l l i a m M. Bland,
Mercury L i t t l e J o e Test Manager, and James T. Rose, A s s i s t a n t
S p a c e c r a f t P r o j e c t Engineer, a l l cf Space Task Group,-and
Augie M, P a o l i n i , S p a c e c r a f t P r o j e c t Engineer f o r t h a
McDonnell A i r c r a f t Corp., grinie c o n t r a c t o r f o r t h e ..~~;xury
craft.
c
. The Mercury s p a c e c r a f t , i t s escape tower and p a r a c h u t e
componentx w i l l be r e t r i e v e d by a recovery f o r c e o p e r a t i o n
under t h e command of Rear Admiral F. V. H. H i l l e s , Commander,
U. S. Navy Destroyer F l o t i l l a POUT, based a t Norfolk,
V i r g i n i a . U n i t s of the U. S, Navy S e r v i c e Force and F l e e t
Marine Force w i l l be employed i n t h e L i t t l e J o e VI1 t e s t .
The a i r recovery elements c o n s i s t of t h r e e Marine
h e l i c o p t e r s from Marine A i r c r a f t Group 26, commanded by
Col. Paul T. Johnston, USMC.

LITTLE JOE FLIGHT HISTORY

B o i l e r p l a t e v e r s i o n s of t h e Mercury s p a c e c r a f t b u i l t
a t t h e NASA Langley Research Center were used i n t h e f i r s t
four L i t t l e J o e f l i g h t s .
Production s p a c e c r a f t j manufactured by t h e McDonnell
Aircraft Corporation and similar t o t h o s e i n which manned
f l i g h t s w i l l be made, were used i n t h e f i f t h and s i x t h
launches. The s p a c e c r a f t i n t h i s launch i s t h e same one
used on t h e L i t t l e J o e V I f l i g h t on March 18.
B r i e f l y , t h i s i s t h e history of t h e L i t t l e Joe f l i g h t s :
L i t t l e J o e I launched October 4, 1959 q u a l i f i e d t h e
eight-motor launch v e h i c l e w i t h a f u l l - s c a l e s p a c e c r a f t .
L i t t l e J o e I1 launched November 4, 1959 s e n t a
b o i l e r p l a t e s p a c e c r a f t up on a n a b o r t under extremely
, high a i r loads.
- 3 -

I
 L i t t l e J o e I11 launched December 4, 1959 w a s a
s u c c e s s f u l t e s t of t h e escape system a t high a l t i t u d e .
The s p a c e c r a f t on t h i s t e s t carried a &5hesusmonkey
through some t h r e e minutes of weightless f l i g h t and
l a n d i n g without p h y s i c a l darnage.
L i t t l e J o e Tv launched January 21, 1960 was a n o t h e r
h i g h a i r load escape t e s t . T h i s s p a c e c r a f t a l s o c a r r i e d
a small Rhesus monkey through t h e s u c c e s s f u l f l i g h t .
L i t t l e J o e V launched November 8, 1960 f a i l e d t o
achieve t e s t o b j e c t i v e s . Although t h e escape r o c k e t
i g n i t e d , t h e s p a c e c r a f t and escape tower remained
a t t a c h e d t o t h e b o o s t e r u n t i l impact some 13 miles c
from t h e launch s i t e .
L i t t l e J o e V I launched March 18, 1961. The escape
r o c k e t f i r e d prematurely and although s e p a r a t i o n was
accomplished by command from t h e ground t h e sequencing
was f a u l t y . The s l i g h t l y damaged s p a c e c r a f t was recovered
and r e p a i r e d . It i s being used i n t h i s f l i g h t .

- 0 -