Mercury-Redstone 1A
NASA Ames Exploration Center. | |
Mission type | Test flight |
---|---|
Operator | NASA |
Mission duration | 15 minutes, 45 seconds |
Distance travelled | 378.2 kilometers (235.0 mi) |
Apogee | 210.3 kilometers (130.7 mi) |
Spacecraft properties | |
Spacecraft | McDonnell Aircraft |
Launch mass | 1,230 kilograms (2,720 lb)[1][note 1] |
Start of mission | |
Launch date | December 19, 1960, 16:15 | UTC
Rocket | LC-5 |
End of mission | |
Recovered by | USS Valley Forge |
Landing date | December 19, 1960, 16:30 | UTC
Mercury-Redstone suborbital flight events
T+ Time | Event | Description |
---|---|---|
T+00:00:00 | Liftoff | Mercury-Redstone lifts off, onboard clock starts. |
T+00:00:16 | Pitch Program | Redstone pitches over 2 deg/s from 90 deg to 45 deg. |
T+00:00:40 | End Pitch Program | Redstone reaches 45 deg pitch. |
T+00:01:24 | Max Q | Maximum dynamic pressure ~575 lb/sq ft (27,500 Pa) |
T+00:02:20 | BECO | Redstone engine shutdown - Booster Engine Cutoff. Velocity 5,200 mph (8,400 km/h) |
T+00:02:22 | Tower Jettison | Escape Tower Jettison |
T+00:02:24 | Capsule Separation | Posigrade rockets fire for 1 s giving 15 ft/s (4.6 m/s) separation. |
T+00:02:35 | Turnaround Maneuver | Capsule (ASCS) system rotates capsule 180 degrees, to heat shield forward attitude. Nose is pitched down 34 degrees to retro fire position. |
T+00:05:00 | Apogee | Apogee of about 115 miles (185 km) reached at 150 miles (240 km) downrange from launch site. |
T+00:05:15 | Retrofire | Three retrorockets fire for 10 seconds each. They are started at 5 second intervals, firing overlaps. Delta V of 550 ft/s (170 m/s) is taken off forward velocity. |
T+00:05:45 | Retract Periscope | Periscope is automatically retracted in preparation for reentry. |
T+00:06:15 | Retro Pack Jettison | One minute after retrofire, retro pack is jettisoned, leaving heatshield clear. |
T+00:06:20 | Retro Attitude Maneuver | (ASCS) orients capsule in 34 degrees nose down pitch, 0 degrees roll, 0 degrees yaw. |
T+00:07:15 | .05 G Maneuver | (ASCS) detects beginning of reentry and rolls capsule at 10 deg/s to stabilize capsule during reentry. |
T+00:09:38 | Drogue Parachute Deploy | Drogue parachute deployed at 22,000 ft (6,700 m) slowing descent to 365 ft/s (111 m/s) and stabilizing capsule. |
T+00:09:45 | Snorkel Deploy | Fresh air snorkel deploys at 20,000 ft (6,100 m). (ECS) switches to emergency oxygen rate to cool cabin. |
T+00:10:15 | Main Parachute Deploy | Main parachute deploys at 10,000 ft (3,000 m). Descent rate slows to 30 ft/s (9.1 m/s). |
T+00:10:20 | Landing Bag Deploy | Landing Bag Deploys, dropping heat shield down 4 ft (1.2 m). |
T+00:10:20 | Fuel Dump | Remaining hydrogen peroxide fuel automatically dumped. |
T+00:15:30 | Splashdown | Capsule lands in water about 300 miles (480 km) downrange from launch site. |
T+00:15:30 | Rescue Aids Deploy | Rescue aid package deployed. The package includes green dye marker, recovery radio beacon and whip antenna. |
Current location
Mercury spacecraft #2, used in both the
Notes
- ^ This is the mass of the spacecraft after separation from the booster, including all spacecraft consumables. It excludes the escape tower, which was jettisoned before spacecraft separation, and the spacecraft-booster adapter, which remained attached to the booster. Note that Mercury spacecraft #2 lacked some of the equipment present in the spacecraft used on the crewed Mercury flights.
See also
- Splashdown
References
This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the
- ^ Korando, R. D. (February 6, 1961). Mercury Capsule No. 2 Configuration Specification (Mercury-Redstone No. 1) (PDF). St. Louis, Missouri: McDonnell Aircraft Corporation. pp. 7–9. Report number NASA-CR-137390.
- NASA Ames Research Center. Retrieved 2009-05-14.
- ^ "First NASA capsule to fly into space lands at Long Island museum". CollectSpace. Retrieved 26 July 2022.
External links
- "Space Progress: 'Man-In-Space' Capsule Recovery Successful", a December 22, 1960 Universal-International newsreel briefly covering the Mercury-Redstone 1A mission. Courtesy of the Internet Archive.
- Mercury spacecraft #2 display page on "A Field Guide to American Spacecraft" website.