Liberty Bell 7, Friendship 7, and Aurora 7: The Human Factor
NASA had decided to allow the Mercury astronauts to name each of their capsules, and after Shepard’s choice of Freedom 7 was reported to the world, journalists praised his gesture of solidarity and fellowship with the other six astronauts.Carpenter, however, claimed in a 1999 interview: “The fact of that matter is that he named it ‘7’ because it was capsule No. 7 off the line … But since everybody wanted to match Al’s largesse, Gus had Liberty Bell 7 and John had Friendship 7, so I had to do something with ’7,’ and it was Aurora 7.”
Gus was one of those who flew out to the ship, and I showed him my hand. “How did you cut it,” he asked. “I blew the hatch,” I replied. Gus smiled, vindicated. It proved he hadn’t blown the hatch with a hand, foot, knee or whatever, for he hadn’t suffered even a minor bruise.
The next three Mercury flights would introduce challenges and consequences that would underscore the question of whether something as sophisticated as space flight should be controlled by fully automated systems, or involve the active presence of a pilot. Because of the speed of the capsule during takeoff and re-entry, it wasn’t really possible to “pilot” it in the conventional sense, but the astronaut did have a considerable role in positioning the craft for re-entry.
Assisted by astronaut John Glenn, astronaut Virgil Grissom enters the Mercury capsule, Liberty Bell 7, for the Mercury-Redstone 4 (MR 4) mission on July 21, 1961. Boosted by the Mercury-Redstone vehicle, the MR 4 mission was the second manned suborbital flight. NASA photo
On July 21, 1961, in Liberty Bell 7, Grissom successfully duplicated Shepard’s flight, and expertly piloted the re-entry procedure, but shortly after splashdown, his capsule sank to the bottom of the ocean after the hatch unexpectedly blew. Grissom – who died six years later in the Apollo I training fire – maintained until his death that the hatch had malfunctioned, while the capsule’s designer, Max Faget, insisted it was impossible for the hatch to be released by itself. Fellow Mercury astronaut Wally Schirra, in his book Schirra’s Space, wrote that he had conclusively proved on his own flight that Grissom hadn’t blown the hatch.
A question had persisted on the blowing of his hatch, and there were those who had maintained that Gus had inadvertently hit the plunger that exploded the bolts. When I was recovered, I remained in my spacecraft until being hoisted aboard the recovery ship. I then blew the hatch on purpose, and the recoil of the plunger injured my hand – it actually caused a cut through a glove that was reinforced by metal. Gus was one of those who flew out to the ship, and I showed him my hand. “How did you cut it,” he asked. “I blew the hatch,” I replied. Gus smiled, vindicated. It proved he hadn’t blown the hatch with a hand, foot, knee or whatever, for he hadn’t suffered even a minor bruise.
Glenn’s Friendship 7 had also been planned as a suborbital flight, but that summer, less than a month after Grissom’s flight, Communist East Germany began constructing the Berlin Wall, and the Soviets staged several atmospheric tests of massive nuclear weapons. NASA, mindful of the government’s growing alarm at the Soviet Union’s influence and ambitions, searched for a breakthrough in the space program, and embraced the Atlas as a launch vehicle that would take Glenn into orbit. After two successful unmanned tests, Glenn and Freedom 7 launched Feb. 20, 1962.
Glenn flew the capsule literally by hand, like a pilot, keeping the constellation Orion centered in the cockpit window. He was the first astronaut, American or Soviet, to take so much control of a spacecraft. As he re-entered the atmosphere, flaming chunks of the retro package streamed past his window.
After his first orbit, Glenn began to experience problems. The automatic attitude control system, for some reason, was forced to constantly correct the capsule’s position as it consistently drifted about 20 degrees to the right – consuming fuel Glenn would later need to drive out of orbit and re-enter the atmosphere. Glenn switched off the automatic system and took control of the capsule himself. In the meantime, Mercury Control was receiving a signal that a landing bag was loose. Because the landing bags were mounted behind the heat shield, this suggested that the heat shield – which kept the capsule and astronaut from burning up on re-entry – was also loose.
Astronaut John H. Glenn Jr. in his silver Mercury spacesuit during preflight training activities at Cape Canaveral. On Feb. 20, 1962, Glenn lifted off into space aboard his Mercury Atlas (MA-6) rocket and became the first American to orbit the Earth. After orbiting the Earth three times, Friendship 7 landed in the Atlantic Ocean 4 hours, 55 minutes, and 23 seconds later, just east of Grand Turk Island in the Bahamas. Glenn and his capsule were recovered by the Navy Destroyer Noa, 21 minutes after splashdown. NASA photo
It was decided that the “retro package” strapped over the heat shield – the suite of rockets used to slow the capsule for re-entry, and ordinarily ejected immediately afterward – would remain in place, which might help hold the shield in place during re-entry.