fourth little joe press kit

8/9/2019 Fourth Little Joe Press Kit

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Y l \ D R2LhASE UrdTIh LAN A T I ~ ~ AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATIONWASHINOTON 25. 0 . C.

A"M IItem 1FOURTH LITTLE JOE' OOSTER LAUNCHED

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration launched thefourth Little Joe booster as part ok the Project Mercury developmentprogram at y z 3 ea/-oday.from the NASA Wallops Island, Virginia.

The launching was conducted

To dad flight was conducted pritmarily to measure performanceof the Project Mercury escape system at the maximum airloadsanticipated for an abort from an Atkas boosted Mercury capsulelaunching.

Secondary missions include (1) exercise capsule landingsystems including the drogue and maYn descent parachutes, (2) employhelicopter recovery techniques and procedures utilizing elementsof the US Navy Mercury Recovery Task Force.

In addition, the US Air Force Bchool of Aviation Medicinewfll gather further basic biomedical information utilizing arhesus monkey as a test subject.

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NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND) SPACE ADMINISTRATIONW A S ~ N ~ ~ T O N5, 0 . c.

JAN ' 1960FACT SHEETANNEX I1Item 1For Release After Completion of F l i g h t

F i r i n g Sequence. - I n tod ay ' s r l i g h t , two Pollux and fourRecrui t engines were i g n i t e d t o l i f t t h e b o o s t e r from the pad.Burning t i m e f o r t h e Recru i t s was 1 .5 seconds, and f o r t h e Polluxengines about 26 seconds. Thrust a t l i f t o f f was a q u a r t e r of amillion pounds.

When the booster reached a n a l t i t u d e of 3L,,5- 1, f ee t ,t h e escape rocket was ig n it ed . Burning about one second, t h epower fu l r ocke t l i f t ed t h e capsule away from L i t t l e Joe bo oster a ta r a t e of 200 f e e t pe r second. The capsule and tower coasted t oa n a l t i t u d e of d f , 482j e t t i s o n e d by a timer mechanism. A t 10,000 f e e t , t h e main cargoparachute deployed and t h e capsule landed i n t h e waters of t h e

f e e t , and t h e tower w a s automat ica l ly, ,

At lan t i c abou t /Z- miles from shore.

The capsule w i l l be taken t o t h e Langley Research Center,and t h e rhesus monkey w i l l be re turped t o t h e School of Aviat ion,


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NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AN0 SPACE AOMlNlSTRATlONWASHINWON 25, 0. C.

FACT SHEET&N '& 1'1360ANNEX I1Item 2For release: When capsule is retwned to Wallops

LITTLE JOE CAPSrfLE RECOVEREDThe Little Joe capsule launched at c 2 3 Ar-] today by the

National Aeronautics and Space Ach&nistration from WallopsStation, Virginia, was recovered 4 ; 9.3 by a helicopterof Marine Air Group 26, New River, North Carolina.

Scientists will analyze data necorded on-board to determinethe operation of the Project Mercury pilot escape mechanism undermaximum airloads.

The condition of the animal cqrried on board to obtainmeasurements of the biological response to space f l i g h t has notbeen determined.

The capsule was retrieved from the water g m i l e s fromWallops and was transported to the 1,aunching ite.

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FACT SHEEX

DEPARTMENT OF THE A IR FORCESCHOOL OF AV IAT ION MEDICINEBrooks A i r For ce Base, TexasUSAF Aerosgace Medical Cen t e r

The School of Av ia tion Medicine, Brooks A i r Force Base,Texas, was provided a n opp ort uni ty t o obta in addi t iona l b iomedica lresearch data through t h e u se of a rhesus monkey i n today ' s L i t t l eJo e t e s t conducted by t h e Nati ona l Aeronautics and Space Adminis-t r a t i o n from Wallops S ta t ion , Virg inia .

The monkey, name , s a -pound,f/Ia3/z;iear olI t w i l l be re turned to SAM immedia te ly a f t e r recovery t o undergo* female) born and trained a t SAM.extens ive po s t - f l i gh t examina tions .

The biopack con tai ner used i n toda y's animal experimentThe 100-as designed and bui l t by SAM s c i e n t i s t s and e ng i ne er s.

pound container i s 36 inches long and 16 i nches i n d i amete r.Oxygen was metered from a tank through a two-stage reducerr egu la to r . I n t e r i o r t emperature was maintained a t a comfortablel e v e l by f i l t e r i n g body h ea t i n t b a hea t s ink.took up excess water vapors and carbon dioxide and a small f a nc i r c u l a t e d t h e a i r .

Absorbent units

Several miniaturized electranics devices were used t odetemnine response t o h igh acc e le ra t ion s and weight less f l i g h t .An ocul armo tor, s imi lar t o spectacles , and f i t t e d around t h e eyes,w a s used t o measure di so r i en ta t i on and dizzi ness . T h i s instrumentpick s up e l e c t r i c a l impulses from eye muscles and r e l ay s them t o a


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. reco rder .A mi dd ur e e lec t rocard iogram recorded th e an imal ' s hea r t

a c t i v i t y dur ing t h e f l i g h t .movement was also included.

A de vic e f o r r e co rd ing r e sp i r a t o ry

The monkey rode i n a for m-f i t t i ng couch l in ed w i t h shockabsorbent p las t ic foam. It faced skyward a t l i f t o f f s o t h a tac ce le ra ti on fo rc es would be from f r o n t t o back. It a l s o facedskyward on the descent .

The animal was t r a i n e d t o r espo nd t o a cue i n t h e f o r mof a small l i g h t . When the l ight came on i t responded by movinga l e v e r s i m i l a r t o an ai rp la ne st i c k . The number and frequencyof such responses were recorded t o determine the animal ' s a b i l i t yt o p er fo rm dur ing va r ious s tages of f l i g h t .

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fourth little joe press kit

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