POST-FLIGHT

The post-flight medical examination onboard the carrier was brief and without incident. The loss of the spacecraft was a great blow to me, but I felt that I had completed the flight and recovery with no ill effects.

The post-flight medical debriefing at the Grand Bahama Island installation was thor­ough and complete. The demands on me were not unreasonable.

CONCLUSIONS

From the pilot’s point of view the conclusions reached from the second U. S. manned sub­orbital flight are as follows:

(1) The manual proportional control system functioned adequately on this flight. The sys­tem is capable of controlling the retro-fire accurately and safely. The roll axis is under­powered and causes some difficulty. The rate command system functioned very well during this flight. All rates were damped satisfactorily, and it is easy to hold and maintain the attitudes with the rate command system. If the rate of fuel consumption that was experienced on this flight is true in all cases, it would not be advisable to use the rate control system during ordinary orbital flights to control attitudes. It should be used only for retro-fire and reentry. The autopilot functioned properly with the possi­ble exception of the five seconds of damping immediately after separation. This period is so brief that it was impossible to determine the extent of any damping. The turn­around maneuver in the pitch and yaw axes was approximately as predicted, but the roll axis was slow to respond.

(2) The pilot’s best friend on the orbital flight is going to be the window. Out this window, I feel he will be able to ascertain accurately his position at all times. I am sure he will be able to see stars on the dark side and possibly on the daylight side, with a little time to adapt the eyes. The brighter stars and planets will certainly be visible.

(3) Spacecraft rates and oscillations are very easy to ascertain by looking at the horizon and ground check points. I feel that drift rates will be easy to distinguish on an orbital flight when there is time to concentrate on specific points outside the window.

(4) Sounds of pyrotechnics, control nozzles, and control solenoids are one of the pilot’s best cues as to what is going on in the spacecraft and in the sequencing. The sounds of posigrades, retro-rockets, and mortar firing are so prominent that these become the primary cues that the event has occurred. The spacecraft telelight panel becomes of secondary importance and merely confirms that a sequence has happened on time. The sequence panel’s main value is telling the pilot when an event should have occurred and has not.

(5) Vibrations throughout the flight were of a low order and were not disturbing. The buf­feting at maximum dynamic pressure and a Mach number of 1 on launch was mild and did not interfere with pilot functions. Communications and vision were satisfactory throughout this period. The mild buffeting on reentry does not interfere with any pilot functions.

(6) Communications throughout the flight were satisfactory. Contact was maintained with some facility at all times. There was never any requirement to repeat a transmission.

(7) During the flight, all spacecraft systems appeared to function properly. There was no requirement to override any system. Every event occurred on time and as planned.