Mercury Capsule Research Articles

Humans In Space

Feb. 20 was the 35th anniversary of John Glenn's historic flight into space. He was the first American to orbit Earth, circling the planet three times in his unimaginably small Mercury capsule. In an interview on National Public Radio marking the occasion, Glenn commented that scientists and doctors wondered, among other things, whether his eyes would change shape in the weightlessness of space. The day after the anniversary of Glenn's flight, space shuttle Discovery landed at Cape Canaveral, Fla., after an 11-day mission to refurbish the Hubble Space Telescope. Discovery's crew made extensive modifications to the telescope, replacing vintage 1970s instrumentation, tape recorders, guidance sensors, and other systems with the most up-to-date models. The mission appears to have been a success (it will require at least a couple of months of testing to ensure that all the systems that were installed are functioning properly). While the astronauts were working on the space telescope, they discovered ...

Nasoenteric feeding tubes. Radiographic detection of complications.

Recent technical refinement of feeding tubes and formula infusion pumps has led to widespread clinical use of long-term nasoenteric alimentation. We evaluated 340 hospitalized adults after placement of flexible, small-bore feeding tubes. These debilitated or critically ill patients were intubated transnasally at their bedside without fluoroscopic guidance, but portable radiographs of the chest and abdomen were obtained routinely for tube localization before administering liquid nutrients. Various complications were detected in 26 cases (7.6%). Tube malposition into the airways (seven patients) or within the pharynx and esophagus (eight patients) was the most common problem; it occurred in 4.4% of all cases. Radiographic findings in 11 other patients included tube-induced perforation of the lung (one case), massive aspiration (three), malfunction of knotted tubes (three), and rupture of their mercury capsule within the gastrointestinal tract (four). Our observations indicate a need for careful radiographic localization of the feeding tubes at the time of insertion and their periodic monitoring throughout the course of nasoenteric alimentation.

New fluorescent lamps for interior lighting

The birth of a new generation of 'de luxe' fluorescent lamps with both a high luminous efficacy and good colour rendering properties coincides more or less with the introduction of improved amalgam lamps. The paper surveys the characteristic properties of both the new generation lamps and amalgam lamps, and discusses the use of these in luminaires. Although the use of rare earth activated phosphors makes these lamps more expensive than conventional 'de luxe' lamps, calculations show that the higher lamp prices are more than counterbalanced by the savings. New technology, making use of a mercury capsule in the lamp, has brought the amalgam lamp within practical reach. These two developments mean a significant step forward in interior lighting.

Biosat: Laboratory in Orbit

Biosat: Laboratory in Orbit

DEVELOPMENT OF A COMPLEX MULTIPLE SCHEDULE IN THE CHIMPANZEE.

The development of chimpanzee behavior on a four-component, three-lever multiple schedule is described. Component schedules included the Sidman avoidance procedure with a concurrent discriminated avoidance schedule on a second lever, fixed ratio performance for food, differential reinforcement of low rate for water requiring a dual response chain, and a symbol discrimination task for continuous food reinforcement using three levers. The avoidance component of this schedule was employed during the January 31, 1961 suborbital space flight of the chimpanzee "Ham." On November 29, 1961, the chimpanzee "Enos" performed on the multiple schedule during three orbits around the earth in a Mercury capsule.

Water Impact of the Mercury Capsule: Correlation of Analysis with NASA Tests

Water Impact of the Mercury Capsule: Correlation of Analysis with NASA Tests

Radio echoes from a manned satellite during re-entry

The ionized trails produced during re-entry by the MA-6 Mercury capsule carrying Lt. Col. John Glenn in his first orbital flight on February 20, 1962, were observed from San Salvador Island (Bahama Island Group), approximately 370 nautical miles uprange from the landing point. The apparatus employed was an omnidirectional pulsed radar (of 30.25 Mc/s carrier frequency) similar to those employed by McKinley and Millman in the study of meteor echoes. When the Mercury capsule was passing over the vicinity of the observation station at about 14h 33m EST, five clearly separated ionized trails were observed. The most prominent trail, which may be identified with the wake of the main capsule, was visible to the radar for a total duration of about 20 sec and displayed an equivalent isotropic scattering cross section of about 106 square meters at its peak. The other four trails, which were probably due to fragments of the disintegrating retro-rocket package reported by Glenn, showed only short duration glints (of the order of one second) characteristic of the smooth, rapidly decaying trails of small meteors. Though some of the fine structure of the long duration, scintillating echo from the main capsule trail is not yet understood, the over-all characteristics of the trail can be accounted for by a combination of high light from a strongly reflecting front segment of the ionized wake, which appeared electromagnetically smooth to the 10-meter wavelength employed, and diffused scattering from a turbulent rear segment of the wake, which appeared rough to the wavelength. The fact that the main capsule trail appeared turbulent indicates a Reynolds number of less than 105 (based on the velocity and diameter of the MA-6 capsule, and on the ambient air density) for transition from laminar to turbulent flow in the wake. The appearance of a leading edge echo about two miles ahead of the strongly scattering turbulent wake also suggested the existence of a ‘photoionization halo’ around the capsule due to ultraviolet radiation from the bow shock wave. From these results, some conclusions concerning the origin of instantaneous meteoric head echo may be inferred.

The Mercury Capsule Attitude Control System

this paper presents a description of the attitude control system of the Mercury capsule and indicates the manner in which automatic and manual subsystems are used to complement each other to provide suitable redundancy of control. The automatic system is described in some detail, and the performance of the system is partially demonstrated by sample flight test data.

Paris in Retrospect

NO visitor to the Twenty‐fourth International Air Show at Le Bourget would deny that the two most spectacular exhibits were provided by the United States of America. Small and insignificant as it must have appeared to many, the Mercury Capsule in which Commander Shepard of the U.S. Navy made his sub‐orbital ballistic flight on May 5 was shown throughout the period of the Show and attracted a steady stream of interested viewers. Significant as this item was, however, the first place for achievement combined with showmanship must be awarded to the record‐breaking Convair B.58 Hustler of the U.S. Strategic Air Command which made the flight from New York to Paris in 3 hours, 19 minutes and 41 seconds. The flight involved two air‐to‐air refuelling sessions, carried out with the assistance of Boeing KC. 135s— the tanker versions of the Boeing 707 civil transport. If we attempt for a moment to relegate the two more obvious features of this achievement—the blunt reminder of the supersonic capabilities of the Strategic Air Command and the purely theatrical attraction of world‐wide interest to the Salon in general, and the American exhibits in particular—we are left with the uncomfortable reminder that the United States is now in possession of a large, supersonic, operational aircraft, capable of transatlantic flights, albeit for the present requiring the assistance of in‐flight refuelling. Details of a number of Convair projects have been published which show how this bomber could be adapted to a passenger carrying role, and although the aircraft would require some major modifications it could provide a useful link with successful civil supersonic transport. There is no doubt that if the American industry decides to construct a light alloy Mach 2 plus airliner, then the seeds of its success will have been nurtured by the experience gained from the Convair B.58. In a final reference to this magnificent aircraft, we must express our sorrow at the tragic loss of the record‐breaking Hustler and its crew, on June 3 while participating in the Show. Some eye‐witnesses contend that the pilot carried out a form of flick roll following his passage over the airfield, and although this has not been officially denied, it is readily apparent that such a manoeuvre, carried out at low‐level in an aircraft equipped with what amounts to a huge under‐fuselage pod, could only be regarded as hazardous in the extreme.