MA-5 Press Kit

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    NEWS R E L E A S ENATIONAL AERGNAUTlCS AN D SPACE ADMINISTRATIONI520 H S T R E E T, N O R T H W E S T W A S H I N G TO N 2 5 , D. C .T E L E P H O N E S : D U D L E Y 2 - 6 3 2 5 * E X E C U T I V E 3 - 3 2 6 0

    FOR RELEASE: Sunday AM'sNovember 12, 1961RELEASE NO. 61-248

    MERCURY-ATLAS 5The nea r-p erf ect performance of Mercury-Atlas 4 on Sep-tember 13, 1961, p ro vi de d an i m po rt an t f i r s t - o r b i t a l q u a l i f i c a bt i o n t e s t of the Mercury-Atlas systems, in cl ud in g launch, auto mat ico p e ra t i o n i n o rb i t , r e - en t ry , t r a ck in g n etwork and r eco v ery .

    launched no ear l i e r than November 1demands on th e s p a c e c r a f t .grammed t o o p e r at e up t o th ree times as long as t h e one-o rb i t-Atlas 5 which is t o beMercuThe upcoming mission -- -- w i l l p lace ev en greaterT h i s time t h e c r a f t w i l l be pro-

    M A - 4 f l i g h t .Also, i n MA-5 a l i v e passenger -- a chimpaneee -- w i l l re-p l a c e the "crewman simulator" f lown i n MA-4.Thus the f l i g h t poses a c r i t i c a l t e s t of a l l systems, par-t i c u l a r l y t h e spacecra f t ' s Env i ronmenta l Con t ro l System which mustp rov ide a l ivable gaseous environment for l a t e r manned f l i g h t s .

    THE FLIGHT PLANMA-5 w i l l b e l au n ch ed i n to a 32-degree o r b i t a l pa th a longt h e Mercury worldwide network.about fo ur and a ha l f hours a t a l t i t u d e s r an g in g f rom ap pro xim ate ly100 t o 150 s t a t u t e miles.

    A f u l l th ree o r b i t s would r eq u i r e

    Although t h e m is si on c a l l s f o r a maximum of three o r b i t s , thecapsule could be commanded down a t t h e end of t h e f i r s t or secondo r b i t wit hou t compromising many of th e f l i g h t o b j e c t i v e s . I nany case, as';the c ra f t ap p ro ach es t h e West Coast of- North America,th e r e t r o r o c k e t s w i l l be f i r e d t o s t a r t r e -en t ry .One o r b i t would p u t t h e c r a f t down s l i g h t l y east of Bermuda.Terminat ion a f t e r two o r b i t s would mean touchdown several hundred

    miles so ut h of Bermuda. After three o r b i t s , t h e spacecraft wouldb eg in t o e n t e r t h e a tmosphere over Sou thern F l o r ida and h i tmaximum 8G decelerat ion and 2 ,000-degree F. r e -en tb y h ea t i n ga t a n a l t i t u d e o f a b ou t 37 miles. Touchdown would occur some'1,000 miles s o u t h e a s t of Cape Canaveral.

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    As in ear l . ie r I!IcrcL;ry fli[;lits, the spacecraft i ~ i - 1~ 1scapeautomatically s h o u l d a malfunction occur during the boost phaseof the flight. !.;ith the jettisonable escape tower in place atopthe two-ton craft, t h e Mercury-Atlas configuration stands 93feet tall. The capsule itself measures nine and a half feet talland six feet across the base.THE SPACECRAFT

    The MA-5 spacecraft v I i . 1 1 have a 7 by 11 by 19-inch "picturewindow" instead of two small portholes used in earlier capsules.Craft with the large window have been flown three times: twicein the Little Joe series of escape system tests and, morerecently, in the second manned suborbital flight, Mercury-Red-stone 4.Environmental System--- fully operational EnvironmentalControl System (ECS) has been included in MA-5. The primate willbe in a pressure-tight metal-and-plastic box which is connected tothe ECS suit circuit in the same manner that an astronaut's suitwould be. The animal will b e restrained to a form-fitted plasticpallet by a net harness.Minor modifications have been incorporated in the environ-mental system to preclude the possibility of excessive oxygenconsum tion as occurred during MA-4. Postflight investigation

    controlling the emergency oxygen system to move slightly, therebyallowing higher oxygen flow into the crewman simulator than wasnecessary. Had an astronaut been aboard MA-4, the problem wouldhave easily been recognized and corrected.

    of MA- E revealed that launch vibrations caused the manual handle

    MA-5 will be the first Mercury flight to excercise the En-vironmental Control System with sufficient oxygen to support athree-orbit mission.Control System - The MA-5 spacecraftts atitude will becontrolled by the Automatic Stabilization and Control System ( A SCS ) .Quick-Release Hatch - The MA-5 spacecraft is equipped with aquick-release escape hatch, identical in design to that used inthe manned suborbital flight of Astronaut Virgil I. Grissom. Itis removed by the ignition of a pyrotechnic train in the doorframe which breaks the b o l t s securing the hatch.Following the premature release of the MR-4 spacecraft hatchduring recovery operations, an identical hatch was subjectedsuccessfully to an extensive series of tests in a variety ofenvironmental condftions. The MA-5 flight provides an additionaltest.Communications - The Communications Systems will be operationalin MA-5. To exercise and evaluate the voice communication system,prerecorded voice messages and periods of silence are provided -2-

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    on each oT tv:o playback t a pe r e c o r d e r s .f o r a s h o r t t r a n sm i s s io n f r om one tape and then a p e r io d of s i l en ce ,'at which t ime t h e o th e r r eco rd e r and t h e ap p l i ca b l e grou nds t a t i o n w i l l t r a n s m i t .The duty c y c l e s a l l o w

    Voice messages have been recorded by s e v e r a l of t h e a s t r o n a u t st o assess t r an s m is s io n c l a r i t y and p rocedu res . A t y p i c a l t r a n s - .m i ss i on s ounds l i k e t h i s :"Capcom, t h i s i s Astro. Am on t h e window and t h e view i sgrea t . I can see a l l t h e co lo r s an d can make o u t c o a s t l i n e s .Environment i s okay. I f e e l g rea t . E l ap s ed time i s 02:48:30 -Mark. Over. I' An o th e r t y p i ca l t r an s m is s io n m i g h t i n c lu d e a read-o u t of i n s t ru m en t s and r ep o r t i n g of co n t ro l a c t i o n s : " Fu el au to90 - manual 100, RSCS on, manual handle out, p i t c h h an d le o u t .P i t c h up a t & degrees/sec t o minus 15."On Board Cameras - Four separate camera sys tems w i l l b e c a r r i e di n M A + .in s t rumen t pane l w i l l photograph t he an imal th roughou t th e miss ionu n t i l n e a r t h e tim e of l an d in g . The camera i s t o t h e l e f t of t h e

    p e r i s co p e . A second 161nm camera, n ea r th e couqh, w i l l film t h espa ce cr a f t in s t rumen t pane l , p rov id ing coverage, th roughou t t h emiss ion and for about 3 minutes a f t e r l an d in g . ' A t i i i r d 16mmcamera w i l l f i l m t h e view seen through th e pe ri sc op e. The cameraw i l l o p er a te f o r n e a r l y 3 h ou rs f ol lo w i ng o r b i t i n s e r t i o n .

    A 16 m pr imate observer camera s i tu a t ed on t h e main

    A 7Omm earth-sky camera w i l l provide coverage throughout themiss ion of the view from t h e sp ac ec ra f t window.f i l m w i l l be u se d i n a l l on-board cameras.)Radiation Measurement - Fou r s t an d a rd r a d i a t i o n p acks w i l lb e p l ac e d i n t h e s p a c e c r a f t , one on e i t h e r s i d e of t h e p o s i t i o nnormal ly occup ied by th e as t r on au t ' s head and f e e t .

    packs , which con tain th e same type, bu t th i ck er , emuls ion tha nth e s t an d a rd p acks , will m easu re t h e i n c i d en t r ad i a t i o n s pect ru m.A s compared t o i n v es t i g a t i n g o n ly t o t a l d os ag e, as i n d i c a t e d bys tandar d packs , th es e w i l l be used t o determine th e number andty p e o f r a d i a t i o n t o which t h e s p a cec ra f t h a s been expo sed. I tw i l l a l s o a t t e m p t t o d e te rm i ne t h e i n i t i a l energy of t h e p a r t i c l e sby measuring the depth of pe ne tr a t io n . One pack i s mounted on t h eh a t ch whi le t h e o th e r w i l l b e pl ac ed on t h e earth/s!cy camerab r a c k e t .

    (High speed co lo r

    Two a d d i t i o n a l

    Heat, Noise and Vibration Measurement - Some 78 heat-measur-i n g i n s t ru m e nt s h ave b ee n l o c a t e d i n t e m pe r a tu r e s e n s i t i v e a r e a sof the s p a c e c r a f t . No e f f o r t w i l l be made to sample noise andv i b r a t i o n d u r i n g MA-5 s i n c e data a c qu ir ed i n t h e p r e vi ou s o r b i t a lMercu ry f l i g h t r ev e al ed t h a t n e i t h e r was of s u f f i c i en t m ag n i tu d et o w ar ra nt f u r t h e r i n v e s t i g a t i o n .-3-

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    S pa c e c ra f t I n s t rum e n ta t ion - The occurrence of each maJorf l i g h t event w i l l be t e l e m e te r ed t o ground s t a t io ns a nd s i m u l -t aneous ly p icked up by on-board re co rd in g equipment;.m e a su ra b le qua n t i t i e s , suc h a s a c c e le r a t ion , p r e s su re s , t em pe ra -t u r e s and s p a c e c r a f t a t t i t u d e , lwi11 be s i m i l a r l y t el e m e t er e d andr e corded.O t h e r

    ANIMAL SELECTIONE a r l y i n t h e Mercury program i t was d ec i d ed t h a t p r i o r tomanned orbi ta l f l i g h t , t h e Mercu ry sp a c e c ra f t should be t e s t e dwith an animal subjec t to demonstra te the adequacy of t h e v a r i o u sl i f e suppor t sys te ms . I n a dd i t i on , i t w a s agreed t h a t t h e animalss e l e c t e d f o r t h i s p rogram s h o ul d b e c a pa b le of l e a rn ing s im p lepsychomotor tasks which could b e performed during f l i g h t , t h u sp e r m i t t i n g e v a l u a t i o n o f s t resses imposed by a c c e l e r a t i o n andd e c e l e r a t i o n as well as t h e e f f e c t s of pro longed weight lessness .Animal F l i g h t A c t i v i t i e s - The MA-5 f l i g h t animal w i l l beh a rn e ss e d i n a p r e s s u r e - t i g h t c o n t a i n e r w i t h a windowed dome. Al i va b l e gaseous a tmosphere of 100 p e r cent oxygen maintained a t

    room temperature and a p r e s s u r e e q u i v a le n t to 2'7,000 ft. a l t i t u d e ,w i l l be provided by th e s p ac ec ra f t ' s Environmenta l Con t ro l Sys tem,loc a te d be ne a th th e c ouch .e q u i v a l e n t of t h e p r e s s u r e s u i t of a n a s t r o n a u t .

    155-mile-high f l i g h t i n MR-2 on January 31, 1961 -- w i l l bes e le c te d f o r t h e f l i g h t .w i t h an average weight of about 40 pounds and average age offou r ye a r s , have l e a rne d a 70-minute program invol vin g fo u rs e p a r a t e tasks. The program which au tomat ica l ly recyc les inc ludesr e s t pe r iods , rewards of a n o c c a s i o n a l s i p of water o r a banana-f l a v o r e d p e l l e t and, if t h e response i s no t up to pa r , a m i l dshock i n t h e l e f t fo ot . Records shoy t h e need for t h e l a t t e r ,what psyc h o log i s t s c a l l "ne ga t ive r e -in fo r ce m en t , i s "very in-f r e q u e n t . '

    The en ca ps ul at ed chimp w i l l be i n t h eOne of f ive chimpanzees -- among them, "Ham" which made a

    I n t h e pas t s i x months, th es e chimps,

    The animal works a t a wais t -h igh s h e l f equipped w i t h t h r e eI n a n o th e r t e s t , he will s tudy t h r e e symbols,two of

    l e v e m u b e n e a t h hree d i s p l a y p a n e l s.t o r e ac t t o a c o l o r e d l i g h t by h i t t i n g t h e a p p r o p r i a t e l e v e r u n de rt h e l i g h t .which are a l i k e .I n most of the t e s t s , he i s

    H e must i n d i c a t e which symbol i s d i f f e r e n t .Signals emanat ing f rom t h e s p a c e c r a f t d u r i n g f l i g h t w i l lprovide medica l moni tors a t t r a c k i n g s t a t i o n s wi t h a runn ing r e por ton t h e a n i m a l ' s h e a r t r a t e , b lood p r e s su re , r e sp i r a t io n a nd bodytempera ture .Animal Training - The Bi oa s t ro na ut ic s Research Labora tory ofHolloman A i r Force Base, has d i r e c t e d t h e animal t r a in ing programi n s up p or t of Project Mercury.Maj. Dan Mosely, USAF, i s B i o a s t ro n a u t ic s P r o j e c t O f f i c e r f o r

    t h e f l i g h t . -4-

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    THE NETIrJORKDurling the flight, information from tracking and groundinstrumentation points around the globe will pour into NASA'sGoddard Space Flight Center at Beltsville, Md., at the rate, insome cases of more than 1,000 bits per second. Upon almostinstantaneous analysis, the information will be relayed to theMercury Control Center at the Cape for action.The Mercury network demands more than other trackingsystems. Mercury missions are accomplished in the short spanof a few hours. This requires instantaneous communication.Tracking and telemetered data must be collected, processed andacted upon as near "real" time as possible. The position of thevehicle must be known continuously from the moment of lift-off.Data on the numerous capsule systems are sent back toEarth and presented in near actual time to observers at variousstations. And during the recovery phase, capsule impact loca-tion predictions will have to be continuously revised andrelayed to recovery fcrces.

    recently turned over this global network to the National Aero-nautics and Space Administration.An industrial team headed by Western Electric Company

    The other team members are Bell Telephone Laboratories, Inc.;The Bendix Corporation; Burns and Roe, Inc,; and InternationalBusiness Machines Corporation. At the same time, the LincolnLaboratory of Massachusetts Institute of Technology also hasadvised and assisted NASA on special technical problems relat-ing to network.at Cape Canaveral connects to the other 17 stations through adata processing and switching center at Goddard.

    are: Cape Canaveral, Grand Bahama Island, Grand Turk Island,Bermuda, Grand Canary Island, and a specially fitted ship inmid-Atlantic.

    The network consists of 18 stations. Mercury Control Center

    All 18 stations are fully operational. Across the Atlantic

    The network includes African sites at Kano, Nigeria, andZanzibar, a ship in the Indian Ocian, Australian stations atMuchea and Woomera, Canton Island in mid-Pacific and Kauai Island,Hawaii. The system also takes in stations at Point Arguello,California; Guaymas, Mexico; White Sands, New Mexico; Corpus Christi,Texas; and Eglin, Florida.

    Some 20 private and public communication agencies throughoutthe world provide leased land lines and overseas radio and cablefacilities.

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    MERCURY LAUNCH CHRONOLOGY

    TWO t y p e s o f Mercury s p ac ec ra ft have been used i n t h ef l i g h t t e s t program. F i r s t s e r i e s of s h o t s u sed f u l l - s c a l e"b o i l e r p l a t e " m odels of t h e c a p su l e t o c h e c k o u t b o o s t e r -sp ace c ra f t i n t e g ra t i on and th e e scape syst em. Second phaseo f th e development f i r i n g program used Mercury caps ule s b u i l tto produc t ion s t anda rds .

    T h i s i s t h e c hro no lo gy o f t e s t f i r i n g s :September 9, 1959: Big J o e. NASA-produced re s e ar chand development caps ule , launched on a n Atlas from CapeCanaverwl - - t e s t v a l i d a t io n Of th e Mercury con cept . Capsule ,su rv ived h igh hea t and a i r l o a d a n d vas su c c e s s f u l l y r e c o v e r e d .

    October 4, 1959: L i t t l e J oe 1. F ir ed a t NASA's WallopsS t a t i o n , V i r g i n i a , to check matching o f b o o s t e r and sp a c e c r a f t .E i g h t so l i d - p r o p e l l a n t r o c k e t s p r o d u c i n g 250,000 l b s . o ft h r u s t d ro ve t h e v e h i c l e .

    November 4, 1959: L i t t l e J oe 2. Also f i r e d from WallopsS t a t i o n , was a n e v a l u a t i o n o f t h e l o w- a l t i t u d e a b o r t c on -d i t i o n s .December 4, 1959: L i t t l e Joe 3. F i r e d a t Nal lopsS t a t i o n t o check h igh-a l t i t ude pe r fo rmance of t h e e scape sys t em.Rhesus monkey Sam was used a s t e s t s u b j e c t .

    t o e v a l u a t e t h e e sca p e sys te m u n de r h i gh a i r l o a d s , u s i n gRhesus monkey Miss Sam a s a t e s t s u b j e c t .January 21, 1960: L i t t l e J o e 4 . F i r e d a t Ida l lops S ta t ion

    May 9 , 1960: Beach Abort T es t. McDonnell's f i r s tproduc t ion capsu le and its escape rocke t sys tem were f i r e d i nan off - the-pad a b o r t escape rocke t sys t em (capsu le 1).J u l y 29, 1960: Mercury-Atlas 1 . T h i s was t h e f i r s tAtla s-b oos ted fl;gh t, and was aimed a t q u a l i f y i n g t h e c a ps u leunder maxlmwn a i r l o a d s and a f t e r b o d y h e a t i n g r a t e d u r i n gr e m t r y conditions. The caps ule con tain ed no escap e systemsan d no t e s t s u b j e c t . S h o t vias unsuccess fu l because o f b o o s t e rsystem malfunct ion (Capsule 4 ) .November 8, 1960: L i t t l e J oe 5. This was a n o t h e r i n t h eL i t t l e Jo e s e r i e s from Wallo ps S t a t i o n . Pur po se o f t h e s h o twas t o check t he p roduc t ion caps u le i n a n a b o r t s i m u l a t i n gt h e most s e v e r e L i t t l e J o e b o o s t e r a n d t h e sh o t was unsuccess-f u l (Ccpsul.. 3) . -6-

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    November 21, 1960: Mercury-Redstone 1. This was thefirst unmanned Redstone-boosted flight, but premature enginecutoff zctivated the emergency escape system when the boosterwas only about one inch off the pad. The booster settledback on the pad and was damaged slightly. The capsule was re-covered f o r re-use (Capsule 2).a repeat o f the November 21 attempt and was completely success-ful. Capsule reached a peak altitude of 135 statue miles,covered a horizontal distance of 236 statute miles and wasrecovered successfully (Capsule 2).

    January 31, 1961: Mercury-Redstone 2. This was theMercury-Redstone shot which carried Ham, the 137-lb. chimpanzee,The capsule reached 155 statute miles altitude, landed 420statute miles downrange, and was recovered. During the landingphase, the parachuting capsule was drifting as it struck thewater. Impact of the angle blow slammed the suspended heatshield against a bundle of potted wires, which drove a boltthrough the pressure bulkhead, causing the capsule to leak.Ham was rescued before the capsule had taken on too much water(Capsule 5).

    December 19, 1960: Mercury-Redstone 1A. This shot was

    February 21, 1961: Mercury-Atlas 2. This Atlas-boostedcapsule shot was to check maximum heating and its effectduring the worst re-entry design conditions. Peak altitudewas 108 statute miles; re-entry angle was higher than plannedand the heating was correspondingly worse than antlclpated.It landed 1425 statute miles downrange. Maximum speed wasabout 13,000 mph. Shot was successful (Capsule 6).March 18, 1961: Little Joe 5 A . This was a repeat ofthe unsuccessful L ittle Joe 5; it was fired at Wallops Stationand was only marginally successful (Capsule 14).A ril 25 1 61: Mercury-Atlas 3. This was an Atlas-boostetin@: s o to orbit the capsule.wlth a "mech-anical astronaut" aboard.the booster was destroyed by radio command given by the rangesafety officer. The capsule was recovered and w i l l be firedagain (Capsule 8).A r i l 28 1 61: Little Joe 5B. This was the thirdattemp escape system under wo r s t conditions,

    using a Little Joe booster fired from Wallops Station.Capsule reached 40,000 ft,, and this time the shot was a com-plete success (Capsule 14).May 5, 1961: Mercury-Redstone 3. This Redstone-boostedshot carried Astronaut Alan B. Shepard, Jr. on a ballisticflight path reaching a peak altitude o f 115 statute mi. and

    But 40 sec. after launchlng,

    -7 -

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    a downrange di s t an c e of 302 s t a t u t e m i . Fl ig h t was success-fu l (Capsule 7 ) .f l i g h t c a r r i e d A st ro na ut V i r g i l I . ' 'Gus" Grissom t o ana l t i t u d e of 118 s t a t u t e miles and 303 miles dotvnran e . Thec a p s u le s ank d e s p i t e h e l i c o p t e r re co ve ry e f f o r t s .

    September 13, 1961: Mercury-Atlas 4. T h i s s u c c e s s f u lf l i g h t saw t he ' s p a c ec r a f t a t t a i n o r b i t f o r t h e f i r s t t i m e .The c r a f t ca r r ie d a "crewman s imul a tor" des igned t o use oxygenand pu t m oi s tu re in to the c a b in a t a bou t t h e same ra te as aman. C r a f t was recovered as planned about 160 miles e a s t ofBermuda a f t e r o n e o r b i t .

    Ju ly 21, 1961: Mercury-Redstone 4. T h i s s u c c e s s f u l7Capsule 11) .

    (Capsule 8 ) .

    -8 -

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    MERCURY RECOVERY FORCEFor M A - 5 , recovery suppor t i s re q ui re d from Cape Canaverala c r o s s t h e A t l a n t i c t o th e Canary I s lan ds . The org aniz a t io n re s -p o n si b le f o r t h i s s up po rt i s known as the Project Mercury RecoveryForce and i s un de r t h e command of Rear Admiral John L. CHEW, USN,Commander Des troy er F l o t i l l a FOUR.Mercury Test MA-5 w i l l be the 1 9 t h r e c ove ry ope ra t ion i n whicht h i s f o r c e has p a r t i c i p a t e d . For each Nercury launch, compositionof t he r e c ove ry fo r c e i s s p e c i a l l y t a i l o r e d to meet NASA's require-ments. These fo rc es vary with each recovery, bu t ar e normallycomposed of sh ips , a i r c r a f t a nd Marine he l i c op te r s f rom the U.S.n tt3. an ti c F l e e t , a i r c r a f t f rom th e AFMTC, a i r c r a f t and p a ra r es c ue

    Earns of t h e A i r Rescue Service and amphibious LARC ' s from t h e Army,Admiral CHEW e x e r ci s e s o v e r a l l c o n t r ol of t h e r e c ove ry fo r c e f romt h e Recovery Room l o c a t e d next to the cont ro l room i n the MercuryControl Center a t Cape Canaveral.I f t h e unexpected happens and an ab or t occu rs on the pad, t h ef i r s t Recovery Unit t o b e c a l l e d upon w i l l be a ve te r a n r e c ove rygroup, s t a t i o n e d r i g h t a t t he l a unc h s i t e . This group, under t h eCommand of L t . Col. Harry E. CANNON, USAF, of t h e A i r F orc e Miss i l eTest Cente r, co ns is t s of fo ur Mar ine A i r Group Twenty Si x Hel ic op te rs ,three Army LARC's ( l ig h t a mphib ious v e h ic l e s ) a nd small boa ts . TheJpersonnel makeup of t h i s v e r s a t i le team i nc lu d es p i l o t s , f i r e f i g h t e r s ,medical pers onn el and spa ce cr af t te ch ni c i an s who, by many p r ac t i cepick -up s, have dev elop ed t h e "know-how" f o r q ui ck r e t r i e v a l d e s p i tet h e n a t u ra l problems p rese nte d by shal lo w water, d i t c he s a nd de nseunderbrush.The a re a of f sho re t o Bermuda had been assigned t o a recovery 'group und er t h e command of Capta in J . D. H. KANF: Jr., USN, CommanderDes troy er Div is io n 282, embarked i n t h e USS EATON. Uni t s of t h i sgroup a re :USS EATON commanded by Cdr. P . R. PERKINS, USNUSS BEALE commanded by Cdr. R . J . LOOMIS, USNUSS commanded by Lcdr. T.F. BYRNES Jr .,USNby Lcdr R. W. HALL, USNEIGHTEEN commanded byCdr. W. W. HONOUR, USN.From BERMUDA t o approximately ha l f way ac ro ss th e At la n t ic agroup und er t h e command of Ca pta in N. E . THOMAS, Commander Des t royerSquadron TWELVE embarked i n t h e USS DAVIS, w i l l c o n s i s t o f :USS DAVIS ( D D - 9 3 7 ) Commanded by Cdr A. P. SLAFF, USNUSS FORT MANDAN (LSD-21) Commanded by Cdr. N. C. WOODWARD, USN(wi th 3 Marine A i r Group TWENTY-SIX HUS he l icopte r s embarked)

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    USS BACHE (DDE-470) Commanded by Cdr. W. S. SHEID, USNUSS MURRAY (DDE-576) Commanded by Cdr. G. A. KELI;GY, J r . , USNUSS HAWKINS DDR-873) Commanded by Cdr. S. LORENZ, J r . , USNUSS BIGELOIIJ IDD-942) Commanded by Cdr. J. A, DUDLEY, USN2 ITV aircraft from Airborne Early Warning Squadron FOURCommanded by Cdr. W. S . YJEBSTER J r . , USN 6 P5P4 aircraftfrom PatrolSquadrons 45 and 49 commanded by Cdr. A. S. LEE, USN, andCdr, P. E. HILL, USN respectively. 4 P2V aircraft fromPatrol Squadron EIGHTEEN, 4 SC-54 aircraft f r om 55th AirRescue Squadron commanded by LCOL RUDRUD, USAF.The area assigned this group includes the site selected forthe spacecraft landing if it was decided to terminate the flightafter one orbit.From BERMUDA to AFRICA a group under the command of Captain

    USS CHIKASKIA ( A O - 5 4 ) Commanded by Captain L. 11. MATHER, USNUSS COMPTON (DD-705) Commanded by Cdr. L. K. WORTHING, USNUSS CONE (DD-866) Commanded by Cdr. C. A. TAYLORUSS VOGELGESANG (DD-862) ommanded by Cdr. C. H. HAYDEN, USN4 WV aircraft from Airborne Early Warning Training UnitAtlantic, Commanded by Cdr.L.J. PAPAS, USN8 P2V aircraft from Patrol Squadron FORTY-FOUR Commanded byCdr. R. L. PIERCE, USN

    L. W. MATHER, USN consists of:

    South of Bermuda at a site selected f o r landing at the endof the second orbit a small group commanded by Capt. J. B. SCHLEX,USN Csmmander Destroyer Division 82 embarked in the USS FISKEcorrefEitEi of:U 9 S FISKE (DDR-842) Commanded by Cdr, C. E, PlUNTER, USN3 P5M a i r c r w f t from BERMUDA PATROL U N I T Commanded byCdr. P . E, HILL, USN

    In t h @ prlmtary landing area, at the end of the third orb i t ,will be a Task Group under the Command of RADM J. R. REEDY, U S N ,Commander Carrier Divlsion T I I ENTY j who will fly his f l a g in theUSS LAKE CHAMPLAIN . This group consists of:U S S LAKE CHAMPLAIN (CVS-39) Commanded by Capt. C. A . BOLAM,USNUSS D, H. FOX (DD-779)Commanded by J. J. D O M j Jr., USNwith Capt. I. C. KIDD, Jr., USN, COMDESDIV 322, embarked.USS J. C. OWENS (DD-776)Commanded by Cdr. R. L. DISEj U SN6 P2V aircraft and Patrol Squadron S I X T E E N Commanded byCdr. R. G. BAGBY, USN2 SA-16 and 2 SC 54 aircraft of the Air Rescue Service fromunits under the Command of Brig. Gen. J. A. CUNNINGHAM, USAF3 HUS helicopters from Marine Air Group TWENTY-SIX Commandedby COL P. T. JOHNSTON, USMC.

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    The planned method o f r e t r i e v a l will be by s u r f a c e s h i p orh e l i c o p t e r . Eleven o f th e deployed s hi ps have conducted pick-upsw i t h dummy s p a c e c r a f t . A i r c r a f t have t r a i n e d i n t h e s p e c i a lloc a t ion t e c hn ique s use d f o r Mercury m i s s i o n s . Tra in ing i n o t h e ra s p e c t s of t h e m iss ion has been conducted t o keep th e force i na h i gh s t a t e o f readiness .

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    More than 70 key f l i g h t c o n t ro l l e r s and m ed ic al m on i to r sw i l l be i n p o s i t i o n a t Me rc ury t r a c k ing s t a t ions du r ing theMercury-Atlas 5 f l i g h t .The f l igh t w i l l be used t o demonst rate and fu r t h e r eva l ua tet h e c a p a b i l i ty of th e network t o perfo rm f l i g h t c on t ro l and data

    c o l l e c t i o n f u n c t i o n s.Astronaut Malcolm S. Carpenter w i l l be i n th e b lockhouse a tPad 14 a t Cape Canaveral.I n th e Mercury Control Center a t the Cape w i l l b e Walter C.Williams, NASA Manned Spac ecr aft Center A ss oc iat e Di re ct or ,;Chr is topher C. K r a f t , J r . , F l igh t D i r e c to r ; R e a r Admiral John L.Chew, USN, Commander, D estr oye r F l o t i l l a Four, Recovery f o rc ecommander; C olonel P h i l i p Maloney, USAP, represent ing MajorGeneral Leighton I . Davis, Commander, A t l a n t i c M i s s il e Range;Captain Henry F. Clements, USAF, Network S t a t u s Monitor andH. C. O ' D e l l , Missile Telemetry Monitor f o r Genera l Dynamics, and

    Tecwyn Roberts, Carl R . Huss and Howard C. Kyle, a l l of F l i g h tOperat ions Divis ion ; Mort S ch ler and D r . Stanley, C . White ofLife Systems Division; Walter J . Kapryan, of th e Engine eringDivis ion ; H. El lin gs on , Medical Mcnit or; IJarren North of NASAHeadquarters. Astronaut V. I . "Gus" Grissom w i l l be capsulecommunicator with Astronaut John H. Glenn, Jr., backing him up.NASA Manned Sp ac ec ra ft Cen ter Recovery per so nn el i n MCC w i l lb e Robert F. Thompson as Recovery Coor din ator and C harles I .Tyman, Jr . , as Assistant Recovery Coordinator.On duty a t t h e Bermuda tra ck in g s t a t i o n w i l l be AstronautAlan B. Shepard, John D. Hodge and Glynn Lunney of F l i g h t Opera-t i on s Div is ion ; F rank H. Samonski of Life Systems; JamesTomberlin and James Strickland of Phi lco ; and D r s . P a t r i c kLaugh lin of Li fe Systems and Charles A . Berry, as Medical Monitors.On th e A tl an ti c Ocean Shi p w i l l be Raymond G. Zedekar, Officeo f the MSC Di rec to r; IJilbur Huber of P hi lco ; and Drs. Glenn F.Kelly and Willard R . Hawkins as Medical Monitors.David A . Beckman of F l i g h t Op era tio ns and John A. Longan ofP h i l c o w i l l be on duty a t t h e Za nz ibar S ta t ion , a long w i t h MedicalMonitors D r s . Samuel Fox and Francis Flood.John S. Llewel lyn of F l i g h t Systems and Marvin Rosenbluthof P hl l c o W i l l j o i n Medical Monitors C. H. Kratochvil and V.Marchbanks a t t h e s t a t i o n a t Kano, Niger ia .On d ut y a t the Indian Ocean Ship w i l l b e Rodney E. Higgins ofFlight Operat ions and Lloyd \ k i t e of Phi lco, alon g with MedicalMonitors I?. H. H a l l and Richard Hansen.

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    John II. Langford of S t r uc tu ra l Analysi s and Harold B. S t e n f o r sof Ph i l co w i l l j o i n Medical Monitors J u l i a n E. Mard and RobertBurwe11 a t t h e s t a t i o n a t Canary Islands.Operating a t t h e s t a t i o n a t Muchea, Aus t r a l i a , w i l l beAstronaut b la l ter M . S c h i r r a , J r . ; Richard A . Hoover of FlightOperat ions ; Albert J . Barker of Phi lco ; wi th E . L. Beckman and

    W . Bishop serv ing as Medical Monitors .Frank A. Volpe of Fl igh t Sys tems , rrJi1lia.m A . Wafford ofPhilco and Medical Monitors E. L. Overholt and J . Lane w i l l b ea t t h e Woomera, Australia, s t a t i o n . A t t h e Canton I s l a n d s t a t i o nw i l l be Charles C. Olasky, J r . of F l i gh t Opera t ions and LewisDeLuca of Philco, along w i t h Medical Monitors F. M . G. Holmstromand D. Gravel ine .The Hawaiian sta t io n, Ho be rt E. Ern u l l o f F l i g h t Op e ra t io n s an dTed White of Phi lco , as wel l as Medical Monitors F. H. Austin andR. Moser.Poi n t Arguel lo , Cal i fo rn ia ,A stronau t Leroy G. Cooper, Jr.;Arnold D. Aldr ich of F l i gh t Opera t ions ; R ichard J. Rembert ofPhilco; and Medical Monitors H. B r a t t , C. P r u e t t a n d G. Benson.

    of F li gh t Systems; Daniel Hunter of Phi lco ; a long w i t h MedicalMonitors T. R. D a b i s and W. Turner.Guaymas, Mexico,Astronaut Donald K. Slayton; Thomas E. Moore

    Helmut Keuhnel of Fl igh t Opera t ions and Cyrus Bumbaugh ofPh i lco , a long w i t h Medical Monitors G. B. Smi th , J r , . J . Lawson andR . Kelly w i l l be a t t h e Corpus C h r i s t i , Tex as , s t a t i o n .