Mercury-Atlas 9
The spacecraft, named Faith 7, completed 22 Earth orbits before splashing down in the Pacific Ocean, piloted by astronaut Gordon Cooper, then a United States Air Force major.The Mercury-Atlas 8 flight of Walter Schirra on October 3, 1962, had been so nearly perfect that some at NASA thought that the United States should quit while it was ahead and make MA-8 the last Mercury mission rather than risk a future disaster.Manned Spacecraft Center officials, however, believed that the Mercury team should be given the chance to test a human in space for a full day.In September 1962, NASA concluded negotiations with McDonnell to modify four Mercury spacecraft (#12, #15, #17 and #20) to a configuration that supported a one-day mission.The Atlas booster used for MA-9 sported several technical improvements, most notably an enhanced propulsion system with a hypergolic igniter that would eliminate the need for hold-down time at launch to prevent rough combustion.At the first meeting of senior MSFC officials for the year (January 11), Walter Williams noted that the Air Force had yet to provide an explanation for two Atlas F failures during the second half of 1962.At his first press conference on February 8, Gordon Cooper admitted to not knowing much about the booster problems and focused instead on the enhancements made to his Mercury capsule.The numerous added equipment and consumables for the day-long mission boosted the weight of Faith 7 considerably; it now weighed over 3,000 pounds (1,400 kg).On March 15, the Atlas was rolled out of the factory a second time and passed tests with flying colors; Convair engineers expressed confidence that this "was their best bird yet."The upgraded MA-2 engines featured baffled injector heads and a hypergolic igniter, eliminating any concerns of rough combustion or the need for hold-down time prior to liftoff.His first task was to eject a six-inch (152 mm) diameter sphere, equipped with xenon strobe lights, from the nose of the spacecraft.It was a 30-inch (762 mm) PET film balloon painted fluorescent orange, inflated with nitrogen and attached to a 100-foot (30 m) nylon line from the antenna canister.During the flight Cooper reported that he could see roads, rivers, small villages, and even individual houses if the lighting and background conditions were right.Cooper obtained photographs of North Africa, the Arabian peninsula, and eastern India, Burma, and the Himalaya region, as well as a few images of the Pacific and Indian Ocean.Nonetheless, haze and air pollution impeded visibility for Cooper--despite passing over Los Angeles and Calcutta, he could see neither city due to smog.At the start of the 17th orbit while crossing Cape Canaveral, Florida, Cooper transmitted slow scan black and white television pictures to Mercury Control.On the 21st orbit, John Glenn on board the tracking ship Coastal Sentry Quebec near Kyūshū, Japan, helped Cooper prepare a revised checklist for retrofire.An hour and 20 minutes before retrofire, Cooper took a dextroamphetamine tablet to ensure his alertness; he reported not feeling any sleepiness for the remainder of the flight.[4] Fifteen minutes later Faith 7 landed just four miles (6 km) from the prime recovery ship, the carrier USS Kearsarge.Helicopters dropped rescue swimmers and relayed Cooper's request of an Air Force officer for permission to be hoisted aboard the Navy's carrier.Postflight medical examination of Cooper found that he was slightly dehydrated and experienced a degree of orthostatic hypotension from being seated in the capsule an entire day, but other than that no significant effects from the flight were noted.
slow-scan televisionCOSPAR IDSATCAT no.McDonnell AircraftL. Gordon Cooper, Jr.Atlas LV-3BCape CanaveralUSS KearsargeMidway IslandPacific OceanGeocentricLow Earth orbitPerigee altitudeApogee altitudeInclinationPeriodProject MercuryMercury-Atlas 8crewed space missionMercury programLaunch Complex 14FloridaGordon CooperUnited States Air ForceChris KraftJohn HodgePerigeeApogeeSplashdownWalter SchirraUnited StatesMercury missionGemini programVostok spacecraftVostok 1McDonnellAlan ShepardThe Washington PostMercury-Redstone 3toilet plungerBermudaorbit attitudeZanzibarGus Grissomxenon strobe lightsScott CarpenterHawaiiadjusted the spacecraft attitudePET filmTibetanHimalayasGeminiattitude controlzodiacal lightairglowCanton Islandhigh pressure zonesLos AngelesCalcuttaslow scanMercury ControlGeiger counterattitudeJohn GlennCoastal Sentry QuebecKyūshūdextroamphetaminemaintain attitudeUSS KearsargeMercury-Atlas 10Project GeminiSpace Center HoustonNational Aeronautics and Space AdministrationThe AtlanticWayback MachineInternet ArchiveSpace Task GroupSpace raceSpace flightFreedom 7Liberty Bell 7Friendship 7Aurora 7Sigma 7Freedom 7 IILittle Joe 1Big Joe 1Beach AbortLittle Joe 5Flown non-humanMiss SamMercury SevenWally SchirraDeke SlaytonNavy Mark IVMercury-AtlasMercury-RedstoneMercury-ScoutMercury-JupiterMcDonnell Aircraft CorporationConvairChryslerNorth American AviationRedstoneBlue Scout IILittle JoeJupiterWallops IslandWallops Flight FacilityCape Canaveral Air Force Station Launch Complex 5Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Launch Complex 14Mercury Control CenterApolloVostokManned Space Flight NetworkMercury spacesuitAstronaut Wives ClubMercury 13PolicycreationNational Aeronautics and Space ActRogersSpace Exploration InitiativeAugustineCFUSAIVision for Space Exploration