John H. Glenn, Astronaut by Lt.-Col. Philip N. Pierce

Author:Lt.-Col. Philip N. Pierce [Pierce, Lt.-Col. Philip N.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Nonfiction, History, Military, Other, United States, Americas, 20th Century
ISBN: 9781789124293
Publisher: Papamoa Press
Published: 2018-12-01T05:00:00+00:00

NINE—The Atlas and Friendship 7

ALTHOUGH A $400,000,000 price tag would be put on the first American capsule to orbit the earth, it is doubtful whether the dollar-and-cent aspect of the Mercury program entered the busy minds of the astronauts. But they did know, of course, that a great deal of the responsibility for making the expenditure a wise investment would ride with them from lift-off to recovery. Lift-off, however, was still several hundred million dollars worth of equipment away—equipment that would be developed and evaluated by engineers, scientists, and the astronauts themselves.

John Glenn and his fellow astronauts were well aware that a rocket called the Atlas was already in production. Early in the space program, it had been the launch vehicle voted most likely to succeed when burdened with a man-carrying capsule. For fifteen years, scientists and engineers had worked on the Atlas, perfecting it for use as a military missile. Modifications had been made with the advent of the Mercury project and the payload adapter section had been changed to accommodate the spacecraft.

The Atlas was born back in 1946 when the United States decided it needed a missile capable of hurling an atomic warhead at a target 5,000 miles away. Years of engineering, analysis and experimentation went into the plans for the huge rocket and, by 1955, actual building was under way. Tests began in 1956. The first launching took place on November 6, 1957. The Atlas which left the pad on that occasion was basically the same launch vehicle that would eventually send an astronaut into orbit.

This mighty rocket, constructed of thin-gauge metal—less than the thickness of a dime—was designed to retain its structural rigidity by pressurization from its fuel tanks. Towering 65 feet from its base to the Mercury adapter section, it would stretch proudly to 93 feet when topped by a space vehicle.

When lift-off day finally arrived, the astronaut would be driven back against his “couch” by 360,000 pounds of thrust, developed by three of the rocket’s five engines. All engines would be ignited on the pad. The sustainer engine develops 60,000 pounds of thrust and the two booster engines, outboard of the sustainer, add another 150,000 pounds of thrust each. Two small vernier engines on the outside of the rocket are used for minor course corrections during flight; these engines develop only 1,000 pounds of thrust. A remarkable feature of the Atlas and one which contributes greatly to its reliability is the fact that it can be held on the pad with all engines going. This allows a two-or three-second electronic check of its “plumbing” and thrust development to be made before it is released.

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