50 years ago today - MA-6

Platapus · 02-20-12, 07:15 AM

Today is the 50th anniversary of MA-6 (Mercury-Atlas Mission 6).

Payload was a Jarhead named John Glenn. Enos wanted more money so I guess they used a Marine instead.

First orbit of an American Astronaut. Three Orbits in just over 4 hours 55 minutes.

Not too shabby for a Leatherneck, didn't hardly break anything.

Osmium Steele · 02-20-12, 08:43 AM

Yeah, they ran out of monkeys...

u crank · 02-20-12, 08:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Osmium Steele

Yeah, they ran out of monkeys...

Qualified monkeys.

the_tyrant · 02-20-12, 09:25 AM

a really interesting article:

http://news.cnet.com/8301-19514_3-57...th-john-glenn/

Torplexed · 02-20-12, 09:35 AM

Apparently at 90, Glenn still has his pilot's license and only sold his plane last year.

nikimcbee · 02-20-12, 09:59 AM

I went to the Evergreen Space museum on Saturday.
http://www.evergreenmuseum.org/the-m.../space-flight/

They have some great exhibits of the Mercury flight. Now that was a bloody small capsule he flew in.

Platapus · 02-20-12, 10:08 AM

Down in Richmond, South Virginia there is a museum with a mock up of the Mercury capsule that you can climb in... or at least try to climb in.

There was a reason there was a height restriction on Mercury astronauts.

nikimcbee · 02-20-12, 10:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Platapus

Down in Richmond, South Virginia there is a museum with a mock up of the Mercury capsule that you can climb in... or at least try to climb in.

There was a reason there was a height restriction on Mercury astronauts.

I believe the Boeing Museum also has a capsule you can climb in. Man that must have been one hellavah ride!

u crank · 02-20-12, 10:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by the_tyrant

a really interesting article:

http://news.cnet.com/8301-19514_3-57...th-john-glenn/

Interesting article.

All jokes aside when you stop to consider a few things, Glenn's achievement and Shepard's and Gagarin's were remarkable to say the least. Less than 20 years earlier men were fighting a war in prop driven aircraft and rocket propulsion was still not perfected. A 45% failure rate for the Atlas rocket booster would have been a cause for concern as well. Not great odds.
These guys had to be brave and just a little crazy.

Hats off to John Glenn for a long and successful career.

nikimcbee · 02-20-12, 10:36 AM

speaking of Gagarin, did anybody see the show "Dark Matters" , about the cosmonauts before Gagarin?

Quote:

MISSING COSMONAUTS: The dawn of the space age. Two amateur radio hams are listening in, recording broadcasts from early Russian launches into space. One day, they hear a heart-stopping sound. Someone tapping out a distress signal from space. Was cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin really the first man in orbit, or did the Soviets send others up before him? Were they erased from history because they never came back?

http://science.discovery.com/tv/dark-matters/

Torplexed · 02-20-12, 10:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nikimcbee

speaking of Gagarin, did anybody see the show "Dark Matters" , about the cosmonauts before Gagarin?

http://science.discovery.com/tv/dark-matters/

The old rumor I always heard was that the first cosmonaut was the son of a Russian jet designer, Vladimir Ilyushin. Stories were that he died, was critically injured or spent the rest of his life in an asylum.

Ah, heres a page on him: http://www.lostcosmonauts.com/ilyushin.htm

Of course in those days, EVERYTHING in the USSR was a state secret. And if anything happened to you, they just airbrushed you out of the old photos and pretended that you never existed. So even guys who were hurt in standard flying accidents or training were "excised" from history. However, color me skeptical on the lost cosmonauts stories. No real evidence has ever been found. The Soviets launched Sputnik 1 and 2 in 1957. Sputnik 2 pretty well maxed out the R-7 booster. I doubt it had the capacity to carry a human. Sure, if they left off the upper stage, they might have the lifting capacity to carry a human on a suborbital flight but it's unlikely they had a vehicle ready.

Bilge_Rat · 02-20-12, 11:24 AM

"The Right Stuff" by Tom Wolfe is a great book on the Mercury program. (As usual, the book has about 10x more content than the movie).

There was a real concern that the rocket might blow up since the Atlas rockets had a very spotty record. Both previous launches had used the more reliable Redstone rocket. During the middle of the flight, ground control were receiving warnings that the heat shield might be detached, so they were not even sure he could make it back alive.

All the mercury astronauts were great pilots. When Gordo Cooper made his record breaking flight in 63, all the electronics progressively failed and he had to fly the entire landing manually, guesstimating the proper re-entry angle by looking out the window and timing the burn with his watch. He still managed to land right in the middle of the landing area.

u crank · 02-20-12, 11:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nikimcbee

speaking of Gagarin, did anybody see the show "Dark Matters" , about the cosmonauts before Gagarin?

http://science.discovery.com/tv/dark-matters/

The true story.

Sailor Steve · 02-20-12, 12:15 PM

"Godspeed, John Glenn!" I'm old enough to remember listening to it on the radio. I still have the National Geographic with the article in it.

nikimcbee · 02-20-12, 12:20 PM

Quote:

I'm old enough to remember

...must....resist....temptation....

02-20-12, 07:15 AM	#1
Platapus Fleet Admiral Join Date: Oct 2006 Posts: 19,360 Downloads: 63 Uploads: 0	50 years ago today - MA-6 Today is the 50th anniversary of MA-6 (Mercury-Atlas Mission 6). Payload was a Jarhead named John Glenn. Enos wanted more money so I guess they used a Marine instead. First orbit of an American Astronaut. Three Orbits in just over 4 hours 55 minutes. Not too shabby for a Leatherneck, didn't hardly break anything. __________________ abusus non tollit usum - A right should NOT be withheld from people on the basis that some tend to abuse that right.

02-20-12, 08:43 AM	#2
Osmium Steele Ace of the Deep Join Date: Apr 2011 Location: Upper midwest USA Posts: 1,101 Downloads: 22 Uploads: 0	Yeah, they ran out of monkeys... __________________ In the month of July of the year 1348, between the feasts of St. Benedict and of St. Swithin, a strange thing came upon England... My U297 build thread

02-20-12, 09:25 AM	#4
the_tyrant Admiral Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Canada Posts: 2,272 Downloads: 58 Uploads: 0	a really interesting article: http://news.cnet.com/8301-19514_3-57...th-john-glenn/ __________________ My own open source project on Sourceforge OTP.net KGB grade encryption for the rest of us

02-20-12, 09:35 AM	#5
Torplexed Let's Sink Sumptin' ! Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Seattle, WA Posts: 5,823 Downloads: 43 Uploads: 0	Apparently at 90, Glenn still has his pilot's license and only sold his plane last year. __________________ --Mobilis in Mobili--

02-20-12, 09:59 AM	#6
nikimcbee Fleet Admiral Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Patroling the Slot. Posts: 17,952 Downloads: 90 Uploads: 0	I went to the Evergreen Space museum on Saturday. http://www.evergreenmuseum.org/the-m.../space-flight/ They have some great exhibits of the Mercury flight. Now that was a bloody small capsule he flew in. __________________

02-20-12, 10:08 AM	#7
Platapus Fleet Admiral Join Date: Oct 2006 Posts: 19,360 Downloads: 63 Uploads: 0	Down in Richmond, South Virginia there is a museum with a mock up of the Mercury capsule that you can climb in... or at least try to climb in. There was a reason there was a height restriction on Mercury astronauts. __________________ abusus non tollit usum - A right should NOT be withheld from people on the basis that some tend to abuse that right.

02-20-12, 11:24 AM	#12
Bilge_Rat Silent Hunter Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: standing watch... Posts: 3,855 Downloads: 344 Uploads: 0	"The Right Stuff" by Tom Wolfe is a great book on the Mercury program. (As usual, the book has about 10x more content than the movie). There was a real concern that the rocket might blow up since the Atlas rockets had a very spotty record. Both previous launches had used the more reliable Redstone rocket. During the middle of the flight, ground control were receiving warnings that the heat shield might be detached, so they were not even sure he could make it back alive. All the mercury astronauts were great pilots. When Gordo Cooper made his record breaking flight in 63, all the electronics progressively failed and he had to fly the entire landing manually, guesstimating the proper re-entry angle by looking out the window and timing the burn with his watch. He still managed to land right in the middle of the landing area. __________________

02-20-12, 12:15 PM	#14
Sailor Steve Eternal Patrol Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: High in the mountains of Utah Posts: 50,369 Downloads: 745 Uploads: 249	"Godspeed, John Glenn!" I'm old enough to remember listening to it on the radio. I still have the National Geographic with the article in it. __________________ “Never do anything you can't take back.” —Rocky Russo