The Beach Abort was an unmanned test in NASA's Project Mercury, of the Mercury spacecraft Launch Escape System. Objectives of the test were a performance evaluation of the escape system, the parachute and landing system, and recovery operations in an off-the-pad abort situation.. The test took place at NASA's Wallops Island, Virginia, test facility on May 9, 1960. In the test, the Mercury spacecraft and its Launch Escape System were fired from the ground level. The flight lasted 1-minute 16 seconds and reached an apogee of 2,465 feet (750 m) and a range of 0.6 mile (0.96 km). A Marine Corps helicopter recovered the spacecraft 17 minutes later. Top speed was a velocity of 976 mph (1,571 km/h). The test was considered a success, although there was insufficient separation distance when the tower jettisoned. Mercury spacecraft # 1, the first spacecraft off McDonnell's production line was used in this test. Payload 1,154 kg.
Mercury spacecraft # 1 is currently displayed at the New York Hall of Science, Corona Park, NY. It is displayed on an Atlas rocket. [http://aesp.nasa.okstate.edu/fieldguide/pages/mercury/ba.html Mercury spacecraft # 1 display page on A Field Guide to American Spacecraft website.]
Reference
- [http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/SP-4201/cover.htm This New Ocean: A History of Project Mercury - NASA SP-4201]
- [http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/sc-query.html NASA NSSDC Master Catalog]
Project Mercury was the United States first successful manned spaceflight program. It ran from 1959 through 1963 with the goal of putting a man in orbit around the Earth. Early planning and research was carried out by NACA, while the program was officially carried out by the newly created NASA. The name Mercury comes from the Roman god (it is also the name of the innermost planet of the solar system).
The Mercury program cost $1.5 billion in 1994 dollars. See NASA Budget.
Spacecraft
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Mercury spacecraft (also called a capsule or space capsule) were very small one-man vehicles; it was said that the Mercury spacecraft were not ridden, they were worn. Only 1.7 cubic meters in volume, the Mercury capsule was barely big enough to include its pilot. Inside were 120 controls: 55 electrical switches, 30 fuses and 35 mechanical levers. The spacecraft was designed by Max Faget and NASA's Space Task Group.
During the launch phase of the mission, the Mercury spacecraft and astronaut were protected from launch vehicle failures by the Launch Escape System. The LES consisted of a solid fuel, 52,000 lbf (231 kN) thrust rocket mounted on a tower above the spacecraft. In the event of a launch abort, the LES fired for 1 second, pulling the Mercury spacecraft away from a defective launch vehicle. The spacecraft would then descend on its parachute recovery system. After booster engine cutoff (BECO), the LES was no longer needed and was separated from the spacecraft by a solid fuel, 800 lbf (3.6 kN) thrust jettison rocket, that fired for 1.5 seconds.
To separate the Mercury spacecraft from the launch vehicle, the spacecraft fired three small solid fuel, 400 lbf (1.8 kN) thrust rockets for 1 second. These rockets are called the Posigrade rockets.
The spacecraft had only attitude control thrusters. After orbit insertion and before retrofire they could not change their orbit. The spacecraft had three sets of control jets for each axis (yaw, pitch and roll), supplied from two separate fuel tanks. An automatic set of high and low powered jets and a set of manual jets, fueled from either the automatic tank or the manual tank. The pilot could use any one of the three thruster systems and fuel them from either of the two fuel tanks to provide spacecraft attitude control.
The Mercury spacecraft were designed to be totally controllable from the ground in the event that the space environment impaired the pilot's ability to function.
The spacecraft had three solid fuel, 1000 lbf (4.5 kN) thrust retrorockets that fired for 10 seconds each. One was sufficient to return the spacecraft to earth if the other two failed. The first retro was fired, five seconds later the second was fired (while the first was still firing). Five seconds after that, the third retro fires (while the second retro is still firing). This is called ripple firing.
There was a small metal flap at the nose of the spacecraft called the "spoiler". If the spacecraft started to reenter nose first (another stable reentry attitude for the capsule), airflow over the "spoiler" would flip the spacecraft around to the proper, heatshield first reentry attitude.
Suborbital Mercury capsules encountered lower reentry temperatures and used berylliumheat-sinkheat shields. Orbital missions encountered much higher atmospheric friction and temperatures during reentry and used ablative shields.
NASA ordered 20 production spacecraft, numbered 1 through 20, from McDonnell Aircraft Company, St. Louis, Missouri. Five of the twenty spacecraft were not flown. They were, Spacecraft #10, 12, 15, 17, and 19. Two unmanned spacecraft were destroyed during flights. They were Spacecraft #3 and #4. Spacecraft #11 sank and was recovered from the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean after 38 years. Some spacecraft were modified after initial production (refurbished after launch abort, modified for longer missions, etc) and received a letter designation after their number, examples 2B, 15B. Some spacecraft were modified twice, example, spacecraft 15 became 15A and then 15B.
A number of boilerplate spacecraft (mockup/prototype/replica spacecraft, made from non-flight materials or lacking production spacecraft systems and/or hardware) were also made by NASA and McDonnell Aircraft and used in numerous tests, including launches.
Boosters
ablative
The Mercury program used three boosters: Little Joe, Redstone, and Atlas. Little Joe was used to test the escape tower and abort procedures. Redstone was used for suborbital flights, and Atlas for orbital ones. Starting in October, 1958, Jupiter missiles were also considered as suborbital launch vehicles for the Mercury program, but were cut from the program in July, 1959 due to budget constraints. The Atlas boosters required extra strengthening in order to handle the increased weight of the Mercury capsules beyond that of the nuclear warheads they were designed to carry. Little Joe was a solid-propellant booster designed specially for the Mercury program.
The Titan missile was also considered for use for later Mercury missions, however the Mercury program was terminated before these missions were flown. The Titan was used for the Gemini program which followed Mercury
Astronauts
Gemini program
The first Americans to venture into space were drawn from a group of 110 military pilots chosen for their flight test experience and because they met certain physical requirements. Seven of those 110 became astronauts in April 1959. Six of the seven flew Mercury missions (Deke Slayton was removed from flight status due to a heart condition). Beginning with Alan Shepard's Freedom 7 flight, the astronauts named their own spacecraft, and all added 7 to the name to acknowledge the teamwork of their fellow astronauts
Mercury had seven prime astronauts, all former military test pilots, known as the Mercury 7. NASA announced the selection of these astronauts on April 9, 1959.
- M. Scott Carpenter (1925-)
- L. Gordon Cooper, Jr. (1927-2004)
- John H. Glenn. Jr. (1921-) (first American to orbit the earth)
- Virgil I. "Gus" Grissom (1926-1967)
- Walter M. Schirra, Jr. (1923-)
- Alan B. Shepard, Jr. (1923-1998) (first American in space)
- Donald K. "Deke" Slayton (1924-1993) (grounded in 1962 due to irregular heartbeat, reinstated in 1972 and later flew on Apollo-Soyuz Test Project in 1975)
Flights
The program included 20 robotic launches. Not all of these were intended to reach space and not all were successful in completing their objectives. The fifth flight in 1959 launched a monkey named Sam (a rhesus monkey named after the Air Force School of Aviation Medicine) into space. Other non-human space-farers were Miss Sam (a rhesus monkey), Ham and Enos, both chimpanzees.
The Mercury program used the following launch vehicles:
- Little Joe - Suborbital, robotic, and primate flights. Launch escape system tests
- Redstone - Suborbital robotic, primate and piloted orbital flights.
- Atlas - Suborbital robotic, robotic, primate, and piloted orbital flights.
Flight patches are available to the public that purport to be patches from various Mercury missions. In reality, these patches were designed long after the Mercury program ended by private entrepreneurs. When genuine flight patches were created by crews in the Gemini program, this caused a public demand for Mercury flight patches, which was filled by these private entrepreneurs. The only patches the Mercury astronauts wore were the NASA logo and a name tag. Each manned Mercury spacecraft, however, was decorated with a flight insignia. These are the genuine Mercury flight insignias. They were approved by the Mercury astronauts and painted on their spacecraft. Each flight insignia is illustrated in the photo above.
Follow-on programs
Miscellaneous
The Mercury astronauts trained, in part, at Langley Air Force Base in Hampton, Virginia, under Flight Surgeon William K. Douglas and Keith G. Lindell (COL, USAF). Several bridges throughout the city bear the name of the Mercury astronauts, and the main route in the city is named Mercury Boulevard, honoring the Mercury program.
The names of five of the Mercury astronauts are also commemorated in the popular 1960s TV show Thunderbirds. In the series, Jeff Tracy, the founder of the fictional International Rescue organisation, is a millionaire ex-astronaut who has named his five sons -- Scott, Virgil, Alan, John and Gordon -- after the real-life Mercury astronauts.
Further reading
- Gene Kranz, Failure is Not an Option. Factual, from the standpoint of a chief flight controller during the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo space programs. ISBN 0743200799
- Tom Wolfe, The Right Stuff. Sentimental, from the astronaut viewpoint, not meant to be taken as a strict history, but fascinating anyway.
- Schirra, Grissom, Glenn, Slayton, Shepherd, Carpenter, Cooper, We Seven. (ISBN B00005X54G); Simon & Schuster - 1962. Factual; a collection of articles written by the seven Mercury astronauts describing events from their points of view.
- James M. Grimwood, [http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/SP-4201/cover.htm This New Ocean: A History of Project Mercury] - James M. Grimwood, [http://history.nasa.gov/SP-4001/cover.htm Project Mercury - A Chronology]
- Mae Mills Link, [http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/SP-4003/cover.htm Space Medicine In Project Mercury]
- [http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/19930074071_1993074071.pdf Results of the first US manned orbital space flight - Feb 20, 1962 (Friendship 7) NASA report - (PDF format)]
- [http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/19620004691_1962004691.pdf Results of the second u.s. manned orbital space flight, May 24, 1962 (Aurora 7) NASA report - (PDF format)]
- [http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/19990026158_1999028570.pdf This New Ocean: A History of Project Mercury - NASA report (PDF format)]
- [http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/19630011968_1963011968.pdf Chronology of Project Mercury - NASA report (PDF format)]
- [http://www-pao.ksc.nasa.gov/kscpao/history/mercury/mercury.htm The Mercury Project (Kennedy Space Center)]
- [http://history.nasa.gov/SP-4001/contents.htm Project Mercury A Chronology (Prepared by James M. Grimwood)]
- [http://history.nasa.gov/SP-4003/cover.htm Space Medicine In Project Mercury By Mae Mills Link]
- [http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/diagrams/mercury.html Project Mercury Drawings and Technical Diagrams]
- [http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/diagrams/diagrams.htm Technical Diagrams and Drawings]
- [http://www.geocities.com/atlas_missile/mercury.htm Mercury-Atlas Diagrams]
- [http://projectmercury5.moonport.org Project Mercury Simulator for the PC (Orbiter)]
- [http://youarego.com Project Mercury Simulator for the Mac]
- [http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/19670028606_1967028606.pdf The Mercury Redstone Project (PDF) December 1964]
- [http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/19740076527_1974076527.pdf Project Mercury familiarization manual (PDF) November 1961]
- [http://www.ibiblio.org/mscorbit/document.html Various PDFs of historical Mercury documents including familiarization manuals.]
Category:Manned spacecraftCategory:Human spaceflight programmes - ja:マーキュリー計画
- [http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/may/9 BBC: On This Day]
- [http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/20050509.html The New York Times: On This Day]
- [http://www.thisdaythatyear.com/may/people9.htm ThisDayThatYear.com on May 9]
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May 8 - May 10 - April 9 - June 9 – listing of all daysko:5월 9일ms:9 Meija:5月9日simple:May 9th:9 พฤษภาคม
Der Film Windjammer ist ein Dokumentarspielfilm aus dem Jahr 1958 in dem seltenen Aufnahmeformat Cinemiracle. Im englischen wird der Film auch Windjammer: The Voyage of the Christian Radich genannt, um ihn von anderen Filmen mit demselben Titel abzugrenzen. Die Regie führten Bill Colleran und Louis De Rochemont III. Die Uraufführung fand im Graumann's Chinese Theatre, Hollywood, am 8. April1958 statt und der Film lief dort für 36 Wochen.
Inhalt
Der Film schildert die Reise mit dem norwegischen SegelschulschiffS/S Christian Radich von Oslo über den Atlantik, durch die Karibik, nach New York und wieder zurück nach Norwegen. Die Besatzung aus 16 Offizieren und 42 Kadetten unter dem Kommando von Kapitän Yngvar Kjelstrup, erlebt auf der 17.000 Seemeilen langen Reise faszinierende Begegnungen mit Land und Leuten. So erleben sie auf der Insel Madeira eine traditionelle Korbschlittenfahrt, begegnen dem berühmten Cellisten Pablo Casals, der extra für sie in seinem Garten ein Konzert gibt und sie treffen auf das deutsche Segelschiff Pamir, das während der Dreharbeiten 1957 in einem Sturm untergeht.
Das Segelschiff „Christian Radich“ ist immer noch in Dienst und besucht regelmäßig das größte Windjammer-Treffen Europas, die Sail in Bremerhaven.
Cinemiracle
Die Einordnung des Filmes in eine bestimmte Kategorie ist nicht ganz so einfach. Eigentlich ist er ein Dokumentarfilm, weil er die Reise und die Ereignisse der Segelschiffsbesatzung dabei festhält. Zugleich ist er aber auch ein Musikfilm, weil viele heute bekannte Lieder, die zum Standardrepertoire von Shanty-Chören gehören, in ihm zur Aufführung kommen und er ist auch ein Experimentalfilm für das komplizierte Filmformat „Cinemiracle“.
Bei der Aufnahme des Filmes wurden drei Mitchell-Kameras für 35-mm-Film fest in einem Kamerablock installiert [http://www1.tripnet.se/~adler/windjammer/kamera4.jpg].
Der Kamerablock war so groß, dass bei Aufnahmen aus dem Steuerhaus des Segelschiffes eine ganze Wand herausgenommen werden musste. Die Filmkameras konnten einen Blickwinkel von horizontal 146 Grad und vertikal von 55 Grad aufzunehmen. Die beiden Außenbilder wurden seitenverkehrt aufgenommen. Die linke Kamera nahm dass rechte Bild auf, die rechte Kamera das linke. Bei der Projektion mussten die Bilder über drei elektrisch gekoppelte Projektoren auf die Leinwand projiziert werden. Die Außenbilder wurden dabei mittels Spiegeln an das mittlere Bild projiziert [http://www1.tripnet.se/~adler/windjammer/cmirproj.jpg] und ergaben so ein unverzerrtes Breitwandbild (im Gegensatz zum Breitwandformat Cinemascope, das zwar einfacher mit nur einer Kamera aufgenommen wird, aber bei der Aufnahme das Bild zusammengestaucht, das bei der Projektion wieder entzerrt werden muss).
Nur wenige Filmtheater auf der Welt waren in der Lage, Cinemiracle-Filme aufzuführen. Der Film „Windjammer“ wurde deshalb später in das durchgesetzte Cinemascope umkopiert. Dabei waren dann das linke und rechte Bild durch deutlich sichtbare hellere Linien von Mittelbild getrennt. In seltenen Fernsehaustrahlungen wurde nur das mittlere Bild gesendet. So waren 60 Prozent des Filmes gar nicht zu sehen.
Filmmusik
Der Film wurde mit einem 7-Kanal-Stereoton ausgestattet, der Frequenzen von 20 Hz bis 18 KHz wiedergeben konnte und der zu der Zeit als High Fidelity bezeichnet wurde. Die Filmmusik wurde von dem US-amerikanischen Komponisten Morton Gould (1913-1996) komponiert. Diese Musik wurde instrumental in Stereo aufgenommen. Zusätzlich kommen im Film viele Lieder vor, die von dem Folk-Trio The Easy Riders komponiert und in „Mono“ aufgenommen wurden. Die Lieder wurden von Mitgliedern der Besatzung gesungen.
„The Easy Riders“ bestand aus Terry Gilkyson, Richard Dehr und Frank Miller. Terry Gilkyson ist jugendlichen Kinobesuchern bekannter als Komponist des Liedes „Probiers mal mit Gemütlichkeit“ aus Disneys Dschungelbuch. Zu den heute bekannten Liedern des Filmes Windjammer gehören u.a. „Kari Waits For Me“, „Marianne“, „Sugar Cane“, „Memories Are Made of This“, „Saturday Night“, „Don't You Worry“ und „Village of New York“. Der Cellist Pablo Casals steuerte für den Film das Stück „Catalan Melody“ bei. Die Filmmusik ist seinerzeit nur auf LP und EP-Singles veröffentlicht worden.
- James W. Hardiman, Elmer C. Rhoden, Russell H. McCullough, Sven Erik Libaek u.a.: Louis de Rochemont's WINDJAMMER, Random House 1958 (keine ISBN)
Weblinks
-
- [http://www1.tripnet.se/~adler/windjammer/ Über den Film Windjammer und Cinemiracle]
- [http://www.wittkowsky.net/windjammer/ Über den Film „Windjammer“]
- [http://www.soundtrackcollector.com/catalog/soundtrackdetail.php?movieid=17911 Tonträger mit der Filmmusik]
- http://www.radich.no Homepage der „Christian Radich“ (Englisch + Norwegisch) mit Filmausschnitten aus der deutschen Synchronisation.
Kategorie:FilmtitelKategorie:Dokumentarfilm
Mercedes-Benz C111
Die C111-Serie bestand aus Prototypen und Experimentalfahrzeugen in den 1960er- und 1970er- Jahren. Mercedes-Benz experimentierte mit neuartigen Motortechnologien und Kunststoffkarosserie.
Die C111-Plattform wurde als Versuchsträger für Versuche mit Wankelmotoren, Dieselmotoren und Turboladern verwendet. Zusätzlich stattete die Firma den Sportwagen
Pianolist
Ein Pianolist hat die Aufgabe, mittels einer von
Musikeditoren gezeichneten Notenrolle, die naturgemäß jeder
künstlerischen Note entbehrt, eine lebendige, dem Spiel eines Pianisten nahekommende oder sogar entsprechende Aufführung zu gestalten. Die Tätigkeit oder den Beruf des Pianolisten gibt es nicht mehr. Seit den späten 1930er-Jahren hat die elektro-akustische Wiedergabe von Musik die Tradition der mechanischen Musikinstrumente völlig abgelöst, und damit auch den Beruf des Pianolisten.
Zum Verständnis dieser Tätigkeit muss man sich mit der Entwicklung der Reproduktion von Musik
Mädelring Thüringen
Das „Nationale und Soziale Aktionsbündnis Mitteldeutschland“ (NSAM) ist eines der überregionalen Koordinierungs- und Organisationsbüros bzw. Vernetzungsplattform der militanten neonazistischen Freien Kameradschaften, das in den Bundesländern Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Brandenburg, Berlin, Sachsen-Anhalt, Sachsen, Thüringen aktiv ist. Die Bezeichnung Mitteldeutschland für Ostdeutschla
