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This historic NASA film shows an analog re-entry simulation, made in support of Project Gemini. The concept was to use the simulator to test methods of manual control and techniques for re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere. The six-degree of freedom simulator was developed at the Manned Space Center. The manual control aspects of the Gemini capsule represented an important advance over the Project Mercury capsule, which had no maneuvering capabilities.
A primitive cockpit, seen at the 1:41 mark, included a hand controller and a display panel with 8-ball, clock, roll rate command link and all attitude display.
The computers used for the simulation were Pace 231-R Analog Computers. These machines were the precursor of modern digital computers. These were made by EAI (Electronics Associates Incorporated). The Pace 231-R computer, was produced in 1961. It worked by using electrical circuits known as operational amplifiers. This model model had 20 such amplifiers. Cables were used to make connections on the 3450-socket (75x46), color-coded patch panel (center). This computer model was used in science and engineering projects in the aerospace, car and nuclear industries.
Project Mercury was the first human spaceflight program of the United States running from 1958 through 1963. An early highlight of the Space Race, its goal was to put a human into Earth orbit and return the person safely, ideally before the Soviet Union. Taken over from the U.S. Air Force by the newly created civilian space agency NASA, it spanned twenty unmanned developmental missions involving test animals, and successful missions completed by six of the seven Mercury astronauts.
The Space Race had begun with the 1957 launch of the Soviet satellite Sputnik 1. This came as a shock to the American public, and led to the creation of NASA to expedite existing U.S. space exploration efforts, and place most of them under civilian control. After the successful launch of the Explorer 1 satellite in 1958, manned spaceflight became the next goal.
The Soviet Union put the first human, cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, into a single orbit aboard Vostok 1 on April 12, 1961. Shortly after this, on May 5, the U.S. launched its first astronaut, Alan Shepard, on a suborbital flight. Soviet Gherman Titov followed with a day-long orbital flight in August, 1961. The U.S. reached its orbital goal on February 20, 1962, when John Glenn made three orbits around the Earth. When Mercury ended in May 1963, both nations had sent six people into space, but the U.S. was still behind the Soviets in terms of total time spent in space.
The Mercury spacecraft was produced by McDonnell Aircraft, and carried supplies of water, food and oxygen for about one day in a pressurized cabin. Mercury flights were launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on modified Redstone and Atlas D missiles. The capsule was fitted with an escape rocket to carry it safely away from the launch rocket in case of a failure of the latter. The flight was designed to be controlled from the ground via the Manned Space Flight Network, a system of tracking and communications stations; back-up controls were outfitted on board. Small retrorockets were used to bring the spacecraft out of its orbit, after which an ablative heat shield protected the spacecraft from the heat of atmospheric reentry. Finally, a parachute slowed the craft for a water landing. Both astronaut and capsule were recovered by helicopters deployed from the nearest suitable U.S. Navy ship.
After a slow start riddled with humiliating mistakes, the Mercury Project gained popularity, its missions followed by millions on radio and TV around the world. Its success laid the groundwork for Project Gemini, which carried two astronauts in each capsule and perfected space docking maneuvers essential for lunar travel, and the subsequent Apollo Moon-landing program announced a few weeks after the first manned Mercury flight.
Motion picture films don't last forever; many have already been lost or destroyed. We collect, scan and preserve 35mm, 16mm and 8mm movies -- including home movies, industrial films, and other non-fiction. If you have films you'd like to have scanned or donate to Periscope Film, we'd love to hear from you. Contact us via the link below.
This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD and 2k. For more information visit www.PeriscopeFilm.com
9 дек 2015
