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The spent Atlas sustainer engine was expected to reenter the atmosphere after 9⅓ orbits. Reentry temperatures were expected to reach 3,000 ☏ (1,650 ☌) on the heatshield, 2,000 ☏ (1,090 ☌) on the antenna housing, 1,080 ☏ (582 ☌) on the cylindrical section, and 1,260 ☏ (682 ☌) on the conical section. The spacecraft would land 21 minutes and 49 seconds after retrofire. Retrofire was planned to take place at 4 hours, 32 minutes, and 26 seconds after launch. The altitude would be 100 miles (160 km) and the speed would be 25,695 feet per second (7,832 m/s).
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Orbital insertion of the Mercury spacecraft would occur 480 miles (770 km) from Cape Canaveral. Mercury-Atlas 5 would be launched from Complex 14 at Cape Canaveral on a heading 72.51 degrees east of north. MA-5 was planned as a close approximation of the upcoming MA-6 manned orbital mission. This was to prevent the capsule from being accidentally boosted into a higher than planned orbit if engine over-acceleration occurred.Ī more compact all-solid state telemetry unit replaced the bulky vacuum tube-based package used previously.Ītlas 93D was the second D-series Atlas to contain the new SMRD (Spin Motor Rotation Detection System), designed to ensure proper gyroscope operation prior to launch.
MERCURY MIDAS UPDATE MANUAL
The Range Safety system on Atlas 93D was modified so that a manual cutoff command could be sent to the sustainer engine. Prelaunch preparation proceeded relatively smoothly, with a number of minor repairs, including a potentially serious problem with the vernier engines not being bolted in place tightly, which could have resulted in damage to the airframe during launch. MA-4's successful flight in September had renewed confidence in the Atlas's reliability, and although an Atlas E test carrying a monkey was lost in a launch failure that November, NASA officials assured the public that it was a different model of booster than the Atlas D used for the Mercury program and that that accident had no relevance here.Īlthough MA-4 had performed well, there was still some concern about high vibration levels during the first 20 seconds of liftoff, so the autopilot on MA-5's booster was modified slightly to correct this problem.Ītlas 93D arrived at CCAS on August 12 and was erected on LC-14 October 6. It was first configured for a suborbital instrumented flight, then for a suborbital chimpanzee flight, then a three-orbit instrumented mission, and finally for the orbital flight that Enos flew. The mission of spacecraft #9 kept changing. This was the longest preparation time in the Mercury program. It took 40 weeks of preflight preparation. On February 24, 1961, spacecraft # 9 arrived at Cape Canaveral. The flight used Mercury capsule #9 and Atlas #93-D. On the Mercury-Atlas 5 flight Enos became the first chimpanzee, and third primate, to orbit the EarthĮnos in his flight couch, being prepared for insertion into his Mercury capsule An Atlas rocket launches the Mercury-Atlas 5 into orbit, November 29, 1961