PROJECT MERCURY ,'

MERCURY-REDSTOHE MISSION NO- IA

(Capsule Ho. 2)

SPACE TASK GROUP

Langiey Field, Va.

^(NASA-TM-X-50847) PROJECT M E R C U R Y :
M E R C U R Y REDSTONE MISSION 1A (C&PSOLE NO.
2) Technical I n f o r m a t i o n S u m m a r y ( N A S A )
10 p Dnclas
00/99 38488 •.)
i •_ _t - ~ --• - - __ • ^__—'-^

lefo Office?
 December 16, 1960

IHTRODUCTIOH

The Mercury-Redstone (MR) IA flight test is one of a series involving

Mercury production capsules and Redstone boosters. These boosters have
been modified to suit the requirements of the Mercury program. Figure
Ho- 1 is a sketch of the Mercury capsule Ho. 2 and the booster.
The overall goal of the Mercury-Redstone program is to qualify the
capsule and capsule"systems in a space-environmentx^nd7tp'"train~the""
astronauts by subjecting them to a brief period of weightlessnemr in a
space environment.
An attempt was made to launch MR-1 on Hovember 21, 1960. As a
result of damage to the booster in this attempt, the booster previously
planned for the MR-3 mission is now being used for the MR-IA flight. As
a result of the attempted launch of MR-1, modifications have been made to
the capsule sequential system.
The test objectives for this flight are as follows:
. 1. Qualify the 'capsule-booster combination during boost phase
of flight designed to give a mflytnmrn deceleration load factor of llg
and a period of weightlessness of approximately 5 minutes.
2. Qualify the capsule during reentry at a ™py1"ngn deceleration
load factor of llg.
3- Qualify the posigrade rockets that effect capsule-booster
separation.
If. Qualify the capsule recovery system, (it is mandatory to
recover the capsule.)
5- Qualify the launch, tracking, and recovery phases of operation-
*

6- Qualify in part the attitude control system and associated

components.
1- Qualify the retrorockets after a brief period of weightless
flight in a space environment•
8. Open loop evaluation of booster abort sensing system.
The flight plan (figure 3) defines a ballistic trajectory having a
range of approximately 188 nautical miles, a mgyimum altitude of approx-
imately IIJ.O nautical miles, and approximately a 5-minute period of
weightlessness.
 - 2-

A brief description of this mission profile is as follows:

At T-l*5 seconds, the capsule umbilical is pulled and the periscope
is retracted. All necessary capsule systems are operative. At lift-off,
the sequence timers are started- During the boosted phase of the flight,
the flight path is controlled by the booster control system- At booster
cutoff, the tower clamp ring is separated, and both the escape rocket and
the pylon Jettison rocket are fired, removing the tower- Ten seconds
after booster cutoff, the adapter clamp ring is separated, and the posi-
grade rockets are fired to separate the capsule from the booster. The
Automatic Stabilization and Control System (ASCS) gives 5 seconds of rate
damping and then orients the capsule to the normal orbiting attitude of
+ 1^.5° from the horizontal, blunt end upward. This attitude is main-
tained until 285 seconds, at which time a ground command is sent for retro-
grade attitude. Thirty seconds after retroattitude command, the retrorockets
are ripple- fired- Sixty seconds after initiation of retrofire, the retro-
package is jettisoned. The ASCS then orients the capsule to the reentry
attitude. When the axial load factor builds up to 0.05g, ASCS switches
from a reentry attitude hold, mode to a rate-damping mode . A 'constant roll
rate of 10° to 12° per second is also commanded at this time to reduce
touchdown dispersion. When the capsule has descended to 21,000 feet, the
drogue parachute is deployed- The rate-damping system continues to oper-
ate down to 10,000 feet. At this altitude, the antenna fairing is mor-
tared from the capsule, deploying the main parachute. Upon touchdown,
an impact switch initiates the parachute Jettison sequence and activates
the various recovery aids-
The time of major events for the normal flight plan is as follows:
TIME SEQUENCE OF MAJOR EVENTS

TIME EVENT DYNAMIC 2 MACH

(SECONDS! v..j PRESSURE LB/FT NO.
0 Lift-off 0 0
72.0 Time of Mach No- 1 530.0 1-0
78.0 Time of Maximum Dynamic Pressure 55^-0 1.2
11*0.5 Booster Cutoff and Tower Jettison 9-0 6.0
1^3-7 Booster burnout 5-0 6-3
150.5 Capsule Separation 1.0 6-9
285.0 Ground Command - Retroattitude 0 3*
289-0 Backup Timer Command - Retroattitude 3-3
5i5-o Retrofire Command 0 3-3
375-0 Retropack Jettison 0 3-5
1*87-0 Time of 0.05g 5-0 6.5
512.0 Time of Maximum Deceleration (11.5g) 1*50.0 3-8
588-7 Drogue Chute Deploy '88.2 O.l*
626-9 Main Chute Deploy 57-2 0-2
955-7 Impact 0 0
 LIST OF FIGURES

TITLE FIGURE NUMBER

Capsule-Booster Configuration for MR-IA 1

MR-IA Capsule Configuration 2

Normal Sequence of Events for MR-IA Flight 5

MR-IA Off-the-pad Abort 1*

MR-IA Abort after Lift-off Prior to Normal Engine Cutoff 5
Sequence of Events at Landing 6
Primary and Secondary Landing Areas for the MR-IA Flight 7
 TOWER CAPSULE ADAPTER BOOSTER

; 152
70 D I A .

31.00:

— 81.14- 147.08:
20o.oohr — 599.08' _JL
-254-. 80 : - 710.27
— 996.07-

DIMENSIONS ARE IN INCHE!

Figure 1.- Capsule-booster configuration for .MR-1A '


Heat Shield
(Ablation)
Reteotion_Straps_j_5)
'(Retrograde Package)
Retrograde __
Rockets"(Three)
Function: To
a velocity dec:
the capsule of 500 ft/sec
Total Impulse (each rocket)\
12,960 lb. sec-
Fuel- consumed (• three "
rockets): 1^0 Ibs. ^
Total burning time (each
rocket): 15 sec.
yCapsule Weights (lb s)
At Launch: 5750 i
After tower
separation: '2720 j
At reentry: 2^60
Flotation: 222p f
Length of overall capsule configuration ~* 2U-5 ft.
Three equally spaced nozzles canted to direct
the escape rocket blast outward and away from
the tower and capsule.
Recovery Compartment
(Main and reserve chute)
Escape Rocket (one)
Clamp Ring Fairing ; Function; To provide capsule escape
Antenna Fairing \ Ballast (175 from the vicinity of the booster in
{Houses drogue chute'^Fpr aerodynamic the event of an emergency during
and horizon, scanners) prelauhch or booster flight.
Antenna Housing ; Total Impulse: 55,000 Ib/sec.:
Fuel Consumed: 295 Ibs.
Total Burning Time: 1.2 sec. •
Aerodynamic Spike
Capsule-Tower Clamp
Ririg~(three explosive j Pylon Jettison Rocket (Triple nozzle)
Lover bolts - dual ignition)! Escape Tower Function; To carry away the
Window i (Tubular Steel) tower after any abort proced- - ..
ure in which the escape rocket
is used.
Posigrade Rockets (three) Total Impulse: 1185 Ib/sec.
Function: To impart a Fuel Consumed: 5-5 Ibs.
separation'velocity of Total Burning Time: 1.5 sec.
16 ft/sec to the
.capsule. ,
Total impulse (5 rockets):
' 1^25 Ib/sec.
Fuel Consumed: 6 Ibs.
. Total Bui'ning Time: 1 sec.
Figure 2.-
MR-IA Capsule Configuration
 APOGEE ; ATTITUDE FOR RETROFIRING
MAX. ALT. a 113 NM TIME, SEC.I I »
AT 285 SEC. CAPSULE STARTS; 285
30 SEC AFTER APOGEE ASCS SWITCHED TO
I33T.O RETROFIRING POSITION ' ORIENTATION MQDE, HOLDING RETRO ATTITUDE
100 - INITIATED BY GROUND
COr.24A.HD. RETROFIRE SEC
RETRO FIRE 60 SEC AFTER APOGEE CAPSULE IN RETRO
STARTS AT ?15 5 SEC INTERVALS ATTITUDE POSITION AND RETRO PACKAGE
IS JETTISONED AND SCANNER DISENGAGED
CAPSULE REMAINS IN NORMAL FROM GYROS
ORBITING ATTITUDE PRIOR
UJ TO RETRO-FIRING

o 40SEC AFTER RETRO-FIRING TH.; AUTOMATIC

.1- STABILIZATION AND CONTROL SYSTEM PLACES
AND MAINTAINS THE CAPSULE IN AN ENTRY
ATTITUDE PRO- ATTITUDE OF -4O° WHICH GIVES A 20° ANGLE-
GRAMMING BY ASCS, OF-ATTACK WHEN .05g IS REACHED ON ENTRY
£50 INTO THE EFFECTIVE ATMOSPHERE. AFTER .05g
THE ASCS GOES TO THE RATE DAMPER MODE ±7° ANGLE OF ATTACK
AFTER .05g,STEADY ROLL
•05g \\ OF 10° TO 12° PER SEC
487 SEC ',-v>
5 SEC PERIOD OF RATE DAMPING
150.5 S3C CAPSULE 3HPAR/.TIO
25 PERIOD OF WEIGHTLESSNESS a 5. k MIN
5 SEC CUTOFF, PYLON SEPARATION,
GYROS SLAVED TO SCANNER, CAPSULE TOTAL FLIGHT TIME » 15.6 MIN
WILL NO LONGER ACCEPT BOOSTER
ABORT SIGNAL V\
136 SEC DEACTIVATE BOOSTER CHAMBER
PRESSURE ABORT CAPABILITY
I I ' I I I
{ DROGUE \\
^" V/
._ ••)

MAIN -\r I
ASCS

25 75 100 125 150 175 _200

RANGE, NAUTICAL MILES Capsxile .impact 188 KM

Figure 3.- ;

Normal Sequence of Events for MR-IA Flight !

 Antenna fairing is Jettisoned and
Capsule-Tower Separation main chute starts to deploy at about
Fire tower separation bolts 2,200 ft. altitude 10 sec. after
Fire tover jettison rocket initiation.
Tower separation at about
2,000 ft altitude, 7 Sec.
after abort
initiated
Escape rocket
thrust eccentricity
such that the capsule/
will not land back
on the pad (due to
winds, etc-) Separation distance between capsule and
booster 250 ft in one sec--
Maximum acceleration ITg's about 1/2 sec. Main chute fully
after escape rocket firing. extended about 1,000.
Maximum velocity 500 ft/sec* about 1 sec. ft. altitude about 2k
after escape rocket firing. sec. after initiation
.of abort.

Upon receipt of abort signal

Fire capsule-adapter clamp-ring bolts
Fire escape rocket
Jettison retropackage
Stop countdown . ; Land touched
. about 60 sec.
after abort
initiated or
In case of Cape or facility around 1,000 ft.
electrical power failure, after from the pad.
Booster abort arming, battery power is
on provided for activation and
pad supervision of abort circuits.

Off-the-pad abort is initiated Figure U.- j

by ground command MR-IA
OFF-THE-PAD ABORT
 Sense tower separation through
electrical disconnect
Start rate damping
After 3 sec. eject antenna
Retrograde Package [ fairing
'Retention Straps

Rate damping
and constant roll .
Sense •capsule-adapter? control (rate gyros)\
separation• •
Jettison retropackage
and retropackage • s.^, s Capsule-Tower Separation
retention straps ,,"'"' f Timer runs out
I / • - - . . •Fire tower separation bolts
Fire tover jettison rocket

Deploy main chute

^ Rate damping ceases
For aborts after lift-off around 125 ft- •fv > upon deployment of
separation distance will be achieved within •* main chute
one sec. after initiation of escape rocket
firing

Upon receipt of abort signal ,

Cutoff booster engine (signal stored until 50 min.):
Fire capsule-adapter clamp-ring bolts
Fire escape rocket ;

I
Normal recovery sequence
Figure 5-- j
MR-IA i . ''.
ABORT AFTER LIFT-OFF -
UP TO NORMAL ENGINE CUTOFF
 21,000.FEiT-
DP.OGU3 CHU72 ,'JID
j'J? EEPLOi"D.

10,000 FEET-
ANTEK7IA FAEUHG SEP2RATES-
PULLI1IG OUT Mill CHUTE AM0
SOFAR 30I-S AID E:ERGIZI1IG_
SARAH BEACON
ASCS DISEHGAGES

. , , /' / X
V M »^,
COMMAND RECEIVER A AND B - OFF
HI AND LO FREQ. TELSffiTRY - OFF
S AND C-,BAND BEACONS - OFF
ALL CAMERAS - OFF
9
• & CHUTE DEPLOYMENT 'BAG

CAPSULE IMPACTS-
MAIN CHUTE RELEASED,.
_RESEKVE CHUTE JETTISOHED, ANTEHNA" FAIRING IMPACTS-
' DYE MARKER DISPENSED.'
FLASHING LIGHT ENERGIZED

F i g u r e 6.-;Sequence of events at landing.

 SECONDARY LAMDIHG AREA FOR

PRIMARY LANDING AREA

O Aux- Reserve Salvage Ship!

.
<^> Destroyer •
() Ocean Range Vessel
•. '
d. Aircraft Carrier
A Aircraft - "

Figure 7-- |
'Primary and Secondary Landing Area for the MR-IA Flight