welcome to the first edition of a new TV
series entitled the astronauts I'm Lynn
Bondurant this first program highlights
the u.s. Project Mercury program and
documents the historic training
activities the first seven astronauts
underwent to qualify for the program
were going back in time to 1959 this is
a press conference april 9th 1959
washington DC one of these seven young
men will be the first American into
space these are the astronauts United
States project Hercules a substantial
part of the imagination energy and
genius of the United States is being
devoted to the scientific exploration of
our universe
the launching pads and gantry's of the
Atlantic Missile Range mount many of our
experiments into the very nature of
creation
personnel please clear the launching
area
this launch carried an earth satellite
into orbit soon before the earth turns
many hundred times a man will climb into
a capsule of the Atlantic missile range
and the world headlong into space why
wireless ma'am go into space why does
the attempt this new and forbidding life
space with its belts of radiation
meteorites SolarWinds unknown cosmic
forces
to explore his world man has always risk
the unknown because it is unknown and
man's nature is to know Project Mercury
is a beginning for man in space it will
take him 100 miles from the earth here
we think there are no radiation belts
solar winds are unknown cosmic forces
but man the scientist the Explorer must
see for himself each component of
Project Mercury will be held up and
measured in the unbending light of
scientific truth will it work what does
it work under load why not
the problem of selecting pilots who
represent the United States and space
was approached from the same
uncompromising direction from all of the
active duty pilots in the Navy Marines
and Air Force the service records are
473 test pilots were selected for review
110 met the basic qualifications each
must be a graduate of a navy or Air
Force test pilot school 1500 hours of
flight time qualified in jet aircraft an
engineering background younger than 40
at the time of selection and 5 feet 11
or less the national aeronautics and
space administration asked 69 Navy
Marine and Air Force officers of the 110
who qualified to come to Washington for
a briefing they were interviewed tested
and asked to volunteer for the project
mercury mission 6 were discovered to be
too tall 16 declined and 47 volunteered
32 were asked to continue through a
series of capability tests which would
indicate not the best man in the group
but the various degrees of qualification
of each man
32 candidates reported to the Lovelace
clinic in Albuquerque New Mexico for an
exhaustive series of physical
examinations these tests were divided
between those given under normal
clinical procedures and a series used
for the first time in project mercury a
series of dynamic tests designed to
measure the candidates abilities during
physical stress laboratory studies were
made in each physiological area as
military pilots these men had passed
yearly flight physicals but here at the
loveliest clinic each measurable
reaction of body chemistry each physical
function was measured probed diagnosed
what is the specific gravity of his body
what is his blood volume water volume
what is his total body radiation count
we are listening to his heart when the
astronaut is orbiting in space the
measure of his heart's contraction and
expansion will be telemetered to the
mercury tracking stations
after a week of examinations the
candidates were sent on to the right air
Development Center in Dayton for stress
evaluation and psychological tests
this project mercury candidate is
preparing for stress the weight of eight
gravities will thrust upon him as he
rides the human centrifuge
his reactions are studied the results
will indicate how he fared under
multiple gravity forces did he show a
tendency to pull back no was his collar
ins level low was it high now and we
shake his equilibrium
how does this affect his pulse and blood
pressure and what about his mental
balance his imagination his personality
motivation
how does he see the different problems
of living
and how his life affected in as an
individual test his memory comprehension
perception visualization asked him to
describe himself in a hundred different
ways for the battery of tests
now take him up to 65,000 feet for one
hour in a pressure chamber now have him
do this for five minutes they'll ask him
to take a walk walk until his heart
beats a hundred and eighty times a
minute elevate the incline one degree
every minute these tests continued until
all 32 men had been evaluated seven men
emerged from this competitive purgatory
as the project mercury astronauts at
mcdonald aircraft they saw a model of
the space capsule they would ride into
orbit they sat in the cockpit for the
first time
this is the beginning for each of them
captain Donald case late united states
air force age 35 from Sparta Wisconsin
Lieutenant Commander Alan B Shepard
United States Navy age 35 from East
Derry New Hampshire Lieutenant Commander
Walter M shiraj jr. United States Navy
age 36 from Wardell New Jersey captain
Virgil I Grissom United States Air Force
age 33 from Mitchell Indiana Lieutenant
Colonel John h.glenn united states
marine corps age 38 from New Concord
Ohio captain Leroy G Cooper jr. United
States Air Force age 32 from Carbondale
Colorado lieutenant Malcolm scott
Carpenter United States Navy age 33 from
Boulder Colorado these officers were
detailed by their services to report to
the na sa at Langley field Virginia here
the National Aeronautics and Space
Administration space task group under
the direction of robert gill Ruth had
organized a training program for the
astronauts they were excellent students
and they had a realistic and tough
minded approach to Project Mercury they
had to know all the answers here they
discussed the flight tests in the flight
program they would ride both the red
stone and the Atlas boosters but a man
would not ride either booster until the
full test program was a success
the schedule included first instrumented
capsules then capsules with a monkey
aboard and then one of the seven would
go into space the schedule also provided
for the problems of flying near the
earth they must maintain a proficiency
in high performance military aircraft
out of this training together a strong
esprit de corps develop they all felt
that this must be a team effort
involving all of Project Mercury
recognition would undoubtedly go to the
man who makes the first flight but the
second third or fourth flights may
produce far more scientific information
than the first flight
soon all of the astronauts were busy
qualifying themselves for a space flight
they rode the human centrifuges of the
Air Force and enable here they trained
to increase their resistance to the
forces of nature that were pitted
against
but each new experience each small
physical or mental victory was backed up
by hours of classroom work the time had
come to select the pressurized white
suit they would wear all of the suits
tested were air-conditioned at an
attachable helmet and would protect the
pilot from heat and from the deafening
155 decibel noise of the blast-off the
problem was to select the suit which had
complete pressure integrity which was
resistant to temperature and was not too
bulky a suit which allowed comparative
freedom of movement yet a suit which was
completely reliable this modified US
navy mark for suit worn by shepard was
selected for further testing in the feel
of space flight controls this trainer at
n ASA's Lewis Research Center in
Cleveland demonstrates the possible
motions of a capsule in space
while the astronauts perfect themselves
for their mission the hardware of
Project Mercury is being tested
evaluated reshaped and tested again off
Wallops Island Virginia capsule drops at
high altitude test the parachute and
recovery system
at 10,000 feet the parachute will open
the astronaut riding its capsule will
end in the Atlantic recovery area off
the coast of Florida
the astronaut must learn to tolerate the
heating he encounters during his fall
back into the atmosphere these courts to
glance produce great
among the astronauts Walter sure i is
charged with the special problem of
studying the capsule environment
but there are some moments of rest for
the astronauts here they sit in a
projection room and watch the films
taken of their visit to the Atlantic
Missile Range cape canaveral on trips
like this each man gathers information
concerning his particular assigned area
of individual study he is then
responsible to the rest of the group for
this information
Oh
Grissom's area of responsibility is the
flight control system including the
automatic pilot Cooper's area concerns
the ballistic flights with the redstone
missile
Shepherd is concerned with tracking and
recovery of the capsule
Glenn has the cockpit area
carpenter communication and navigation
and slaton has the responsibility for
knowing atlas and all of its systems the
possibility that trouble may develop
with the Atlas or the redstone during
the countdown or during the take-off is
looked squarely in the eye by the
astronauts and the engineers behind the
project but this booster was not a
mercury big but imagine the worst
possible situation for the astronaut
that his capsule is now mounted on top
of this Apple the escape rocket takes
the capsule away from the booster
the tower the parachute opens and the
capsule lands and see
success in a pioneer mission depends on
optimal human performance and
performance this is the voice of dr.
Theodore Benzinger at the Naval Medical
Center Bethesda Maryland they astronauts
each take their afternoon of sweating it
out in this gradient eat calorimeter in
a temperature as hot as it is in here
now for him and will later be for you
Alan 14 degrees Fahrenheit your internal
body temperature is protected by a
physiological mechanism of very high
power and precision in the submarine
carbon dioxide chamber at that has dro
the astronaut to learn that space
medicine and submarine medicine have
common problems under emergency
conditions there is a danger of the
presence of unusual amounts of carbon
dioxide in the space capsule or a
submarine ho
after two hours in the chamber under
three percent carbon dioxide these men a
time but they were convinced that they
could function for quite a long time at
least long enough to make a complete
orbit of the earth and then to make an
emergency re-entry and landing but
before a man's life is risk in space
animals will undergo the same
operational stresses the animal research
program connected with Project Mercury
is an important core equity to research
with human beings in space
you
the na sa research which created the
individually molded couch was another
step toward minimizing the hazard of
injury during the mercury mission
this is the same man John Glenn sitting
in his couch under 14 G's in the
centrifuge at the naval aviation medical
acceleration laboratory johnsville
Pennsylvania
and this is Gus Grissom the astronauts
consider this experience is probably the
most important phase of their
spaceflight environmental training
alan shepard as he takes the G load of
an emergency abort and landing
to be able to take this physical beating
these men must be conditioned like
athletes and the astronauts find that
the physical discipline of underwater
swimming is oddly effective in training
toward a space mission
Navy underwater demolition team 21 of
Little Creek Virginia supervises the
instruction of the astronauts Al Shepard
and Wally schirra have just completed a
half-mile swim by compass course to the
beach underwater swimming aside from
being an excellent physical condition er
accustoms the astronaut to a forced
breathing discipline and closely
approximates the condition of
weightlessness which will be encountered
in orbital flight
now imagine if you will that you are
watching the first project mercury
launching at the Atlantic Missile Range
Cape Canaveral
at launch time the man capsule with its
escape system is thrust into the sky by
the two booster engines and one
sustainer engine of the Atlas
at an altitude of about 50 miles after
some two minutes of flight the booster
engines are turned off and jettison the
sustainer engine continues its thrust
toward orbital speed as the escape
rocket fires pulling the escaped our
free of the capsule
orbital speed will be achieved at about
100 miles altitude once in orbit
explosive bolts release the capsule
separation rockets on the capsule fire
pushing the capsule away from the Atlas
now the capsule automatic pilot rotates
the capsule if the automatic pilot fails
to respond or becomes erratic the pilot
has controls to maneuver the capsule
into proper orbital attitude through a
periscope or through his window the
pilot observes the earth below and the
heavens beyond the horizon
near the end of the third order when the
capsule is several hundred miles west
off the coast of California the signal
for re-entry is given retro rockets fire
causing the capsule to leave its orbital
path now man and capsule for and meteor
light plunged toward the earth plunging
through the atmosphere the heat shield
glows white hi the blunt end must be
pointed in the line of hall
the low patrol aircraft sweep the
reentry area with radar
at 10,000 feet the main parachute
extends and a so-far bomb is released
the bomb exploding some 3,000 feet under
the ocean provides an accurate fix with
this information patrol aircraft and
ships converge on the spot where the
capsule is expected to land when the
capsule hits the water the parachute is
released in sea dye marker spreads out
on the surface of the water as a capsule
floats in the see a signal light and
automatic radio transmitter indicate the
exact position so before the Earth turns
many hundred times another booster will
rest on the pad of the Cape
and one of the astronauts will ride here
on the shoulders of atlas this unmanned
Atlas booster and capsule proved in the
flight test experiment named Big Joe
that this vehicle could perform the
mission
the castle without escape tower rocketed
to 100 miles and was thrust downward to
re-enter the Earth's atmosphere at a
speed just below the predicted reentry
speed the capsule was recovered the
Atlantic Ocean the tests will continue
the experiments of training will go on
to put man into orbit these are the
astronauts
united states Project Mercury we hope
that you enjoyed the first edition of
the astronauts thank you for joining us
until next time this is Lynn Bondurant
saying goodbye from the NASA Lewis
Research Center in Cleveland
you