Everything you never knew you wanted to know about the Mercury Project
MA-2
From RixWiki
Description of Mission
From SP-45 Mercury project summary
The Mercury-Atlas 2 vehicle was launched from the Cape Canaveral test site on February 21, 1961, to accomplish the objectives of the MA-1 mission. The space vehicle for this flight consisted of the sixth production spacecraft and Atlas launch vehicle No.67D. Several structural changes made in the spacecraft launch-vehicle interface area as a result of the failure of the preceding Mercury-Atlas missions were as follows:
- The adapter was stiffened.
- The clearance between the spacecraft retropackage and the launch vehicle lox tank dome was increased.
- An 8-inch stainless-steel band was fitted circumferentially around the upper end of the launch-vehicle lox tank.
- The lox-valve support structure was changed so that the valve was not attached to the adapter.
- Special instrumentation was installed in the spacecraft launch-vehicle interface area to measure loads, vibrations and pressures.
The major test objective of the MA-2 mission was to demonstrate the integrity of the spacecraft structure, ablation shield, and afterbody shingles for the most severe reentry from the standpoint of load factor and afterbody temperature. The flight closely matched the desired trajectory, and the desired temperature and loading measurements were obtained. The spacecraft landed in the planned landing area and was recovered and placed aboard a recovery ship approximately 55 minutes after it was launched. A preliminary evaluation of measured data and a detailed inspection of the recovered spacecraft indicated that all test objectives were satisfied and that the spacecraft structure and heat-protection elements were in excellent condition.
