The Complete Book of Spaceflight: From Apollo 1 to Zero Gravity

spacecraft could have flown much longer than six
orbits. Splashdown took place within the intended
recovery zone, about 440 km northeast of Midway
Island and just 7 km from the recovery vessel.
Mercury MA-9
Lying in his Faith 7 capsule during countdown, Gordon
Cooper was so relaxed that he even managed to
nod off. He had another opportunity to sleep once he
was in space, because this 22-orbit mission was the first
in American manned spaceflight history to last more
than a day. (Vostok 2, however, holds the record for
the very first full-day manned mission.) During the
flight, Cooper released a beacon sphere containing
strobe lights—the first satellite to be deployed from a
manned spacecraft—which he was able to see during
his next orbit. He also spotted a 44,000-watt xenon
lamp that had been set up as an experiment in visual
observation in a town in South Africa, and was able to
recognize cities, oil refineries, and even smoke from
houses in Asia. Cooper tried twice without success to
deploy an inflatable balloon. Between orbits 10 and 14
Mercury Seven
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status, to 69. All these remaining candidates were
invited to apply, but only 32 volunteered. These volunteers
went on to undergo rigorous physical examinations
and tests; the number was reduced to 14. The
selection of the final seven came on April 9, 1959. Shepard
was the tallest Mercury astronaut at 5 ft. 11 in. (1.80
m), Grissom the shortest at 5 ft. 7 in. (1.70 m). Cooper
was the youngest at 32, Glenn the oldest at 37. The first
message received by the test pilots as to their impending
call for astronaut service read: “You will soon receive
orders to OP-05 in Washington in connection with a
special project. Please do not discuss the matter with
anyone or speculate on the purpose of the orders, as
any prior identification of yourself with the project
might prejudice that project.” 41
Mercury Thirteen
A group of 13 women who passed the physical tests
given to candidate astronauts for the Mercury program,
in some cases surpassing the performance of the Mercury
Seven, but who were debarred from serving as
astronauts. The group came about because aerospace
physician Randolph Lovelace II, responsible for the
Mercury Thirteen 275
he slept for about eight hours, later reporting that he
had anchored his thumbs to his helmet restraint strap
to prevent his arms from floating freely—a potential
hazard with so many switches within easy reach. On
the 19th orbit a warning light came on indicating that
the capsule had dipped to a dangerously low altitude.
However, further tests showed that the capsule was still
in its proper orbit and that most likely the warning system
had failed because of a short-circuit caused by
dampness in the electrical system. Concerned that
there might be more such short-circuits in the automatic
reentry system, mission managers instructed
Cooper to reenter under manual control—the only
such reentry of all four Mercury orbital flights. Cooper
did a fine job bringing his capsule to a splashdown just
7 km from the prime recovery vessel. He was the last
American astronaut to orbit Earth alone. NASA had
considered one more Mercury flight, but the project
officially ended on June 12, 1963, when NASA
Administrator James Webb told the Senate Space
Committee that no further Mercury missions were
needed, and that NASA would press ahead with the
Gemini and Apollo programs.
selection of the Mercury Seven, was curious to know
whether female pilots could measure up to the same rigorous
tests that the men had taken at his clinic in Albuquerque,
New Mexico. Lovelace invited 26 women
Mercury Thirteen Jerrie Cobb tests the Gimbal Rig at Lewis
Research Center in April 1960. NASA