Mercury-Atlas 7
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(Redirected from Aurora 7)
"Mercury 7" redirects here. For the group of astronauts, see Mercury Seven.
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| Mercury-Atlas 7 | |||||
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Mission insignia |
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| Mission statistics | |||||
| Mission name | Mercury-Atlas 7 | ||||
| Spacecraft name | Aurora 7 | ||||
| Spacecraft mass | 1,350.0 kilograms (2,976 lb) | ||||
| Crew size | 1 | ||||
| Call sign | Aurora 7 | ||||
| Launch vehicle | Atlas LV-3B | ||||
| Launch pad | LC-14 (CCAFS) | ||||
| Launch date | May 24, 1962 12:45:16 UTC |
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| Landing | May 24, 1962 17:41:21 UTC |
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| Mission duration | 04:56:05 | ||||
| Number of orbits | 3 | ||||
| Apogee | 260 kilometres (140 nmi) | ||||
| Perigee | 154 kilometres (83 nmi) | ||||
| Orbital period | 88.3 min. | ||||
| Orbital inclination | 32.5° | ||||
| Distance traveled | 122,344 kilometres (76,021 mi) | ||||
| Maximum velocity | 28,242 kilometres per hour (17,549 mph) | ||||
| Peak acceleration | 7.8 g (76 m/s²) | ||||
| Crew photo | |||||
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| Malcolm Scott Carpenter | |||||
| Related missions | |||||
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Mercury-Atlas 7 was the second American orbital Mercury program manned space mission, launched May 24, 1962. The Mercury spacecraft was named Aurora 7 and made three Earth orbits, piloted by astronaut Scott Carpenter. A targeting mishap during reentry took the spacecraft 250 miles (about 400 km) off course, delaying recovery of Carpenter and the craft. The mission used Mercury spacecraft No. 18 and Atlas launch vehicle No. 107-D.
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[edit] Crew
| Position | Astronaut | |
|---|---|---|
| Pilot | M. Scott Carpenter First spaceflight |
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[edit] Backup crew
| Position | Astronaut | |
|---|---|---|
| Pilot | Walter M. Schirra | |
[edit] Crew notes
The original prime crew for Mercury Atlas-7 was to have been Deke Slayton, with Schirra as his back-up. However Slayton was removed from all flight crew availability after the discovery of cardiac arrhythmia during a training run in the g-loading centrifuge. If Slayton had flown MA-7, his spacecraft would have been named Delta 7, as this would have been the fourth manned flight and Delta (Δ) is the fourth letter in the Greek alphabet.[clarification needed]
[edit] Mission parameters
- Mass: 2975 lb (1350 kg)
- Perigee: 154 km
- Apogee: 260 km
- Inclination: 32.5°
- Period: 88.3 min
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[edit] Mercury-Atlas three-orbit flight events
| T+ Time | Event | Description |
|---|---|---|
| T+00:00:00 | Liftoff | Mercury-Atlas lifts off, onboard clock starts. |
| T+00:00:02 | Roll Program | Mercury-Atlas rotates along its axis 2.5 deg/s from 30° to 0°. |
| T+00:00:16 | Pitch Program | Mercury-Atlas begins a 0.5 deg/s pitch from 90° to 0°. |
| T+00:00:30 | Radio Guidance Lock | General Electric-Burroughs guidance system locks onto radio transponder in Atlas booster to guide the vehicle until orbit insertion. |
| T+00:01:24 | Max Q | Maximum dynamic pressure ~980 lbf/ft² (47 kPa) |
| T+00:02:10 | BECO | Atlas Booster Engine Cutoff. Booster engines drop away. |
| T+00:02:33 | Tower Jettison | Escape Tower Jettison, no longer needed. |
| T+00:02:25 | Atlas Pitchover | After tower separation, vehicle pitches over further. |
| T+00:05:20 | SECO | Atlas Sustainer Engine Cutoff, spacecraft reaches orbit, velocity 17,547 mph (7,844 m/s). |
| T+00:05:24 | Spacecraft Separation | Posigrade rockets fire for 1 second giving 15 ft/s (5 m/s) separation. |
| T+00:05:25 | 5-Second Rate Damping | ASCS damps spacecraft rates for 5 seconds in preparation for turnaround maneuver. |
| T+00:05:25 | Turnaround Maneuver | Spacecraft (ASCS) system rotates spacecraft 180 degrees, to heat shield forward attitude. Nose is pitched down 34 degrees to retro fire position. |
| T+00:05:30 T+04:30:00 |
Orbital Operations | Orbital operations and experiments for 3 orbits. |
| T+04:30:00 | Retro Sequence Start | Retrofire in 30 s; (ASCS) checks for proper retro attitude −34° pitch, 0° yaw, 0° roll. |
| T+04:30:30 | Retrofire | Three retro rockets fire for 10 seconds each. They are started at 5 second intervals, firing overlaps for a total of 20 seconds. Delta V of 550 ft/s (168 m/s) is taken off forward velocity. |
| T+04:31:00 | Retract Periscope | Periscope is automatically retracted in preparation for reentry. |
| T+04:31:50 | Retro Pack Jettison | One minute after retrofire retro pack is jettisoned, leaving heatshield clear. |
| T+04:33:00 | Retro Attitude Maneuver | (ASCS) orients spacecraft in 34° nose down pitch, 0° roll, 0° yaw. |
| T+04:40:30 | 0.05 G Maneuver | (ASCS) detects beginning of reentry and rolls spacecraft at 10 degrees per second to stabilize spacecraft during reentry. |
| T+04:50:20 | Drogue Parachute Deploy | Drogue parachute deployed at 22,000 ft (6.7 km) slowing descent to 365 ft/s (111 m/s) and stabilizing spacecraft. |
| T+04:50:25 | Snorkel Deploy | Fresh air snorkel deploys at 20,000 ft (6 km) ECS switches to emergency oxygen rate to cool cabin. |
| T+04:51:55 | Main Parachute Deploy | Main parachute deploys at 10,000 ft (3 km). Descent rate slows to 30 ft/s (9 m/s). |
| T+04:52:00 | Landing Bag Deploy | Landing Bag Deploys, dropping heat shield down four feet (1.2 m). |
| T+04:52:30 | Fuel Dump | Remaining hydrogen peroxide fuel automatically dumped. |
| T+04:57:10 | Splashdown | Spacecraft lands in water. |
| T+04:57:10 | Rescue Aids Deploy | Rescue aid package deployed. The package includes green dye marker, recovery radio beacon and whip antenna. |
[edit] See also
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- Results of the Second U.S. Manned Orbital Space Flight, May 24, 1962 NASA report - (PDF format)
- This New Ocean: A History of Project Mercury - NASA report (PDF format)
- Project Mercury: A Chronology - NASA report (PDF format)
- NASA NSSDC Spacecraft Details
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