Everything you never knew you wanted to know about the Mercury Project
MA-7
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Description of Mission
From SP-45 Mercury project summary
The Mercury-Atlas 7 (MA-7) vehicle was launched on May 24,1962, from the Cape Canaveral launch site. Astronaut M. Scott Carpenter was the pilot for this mission. The mission was planned for three orbital passes and was a continuation of the program to acquire additional operational experience and information for manned orbital space flight. All objectives of the mission were achieved. The spacecraft used for this flight was production unit number 18 which was very similar to the spacecraft 13 used on the MA-6 flight. Some of the more significant features and modifications applied to this spacecraft include: the SOFAR bomb and radar chaff were deleted, the earth-path and oxygen partial pressure indicators were deleted, the instrument observer camera was removed, provisions for a number of experiments and evaluation were added, a more complete temperature survey system was added, the astronaut's suit circuit constant-bleed orifice was deleted, the landing bag limit (heat-shield release) switches were rewired to prevent erroneous telemetry signals should one switch malfunction.
The launch vehicle, the Atlas 107-D, was similar to the previous Atlas launch vehicle except for a few minor changes, the major one of which was that for this mission, the fuel tank insulation bulkhead was retained. Launch vehicle performance was satisfactory. A perigee of 86.8 nautical miles and an apogee of 145 nautical miles were the orbital parameters. During most of the flight, the spacecraft-system operation was satisfactory until late in the third pass, the pilot noted that the spacecraft true attitude and indicated attitude in pitch were in disagreement. Because this control system problem was detected just before retrofire, no corrective action was possible and the astronaut was forced to provide manual attitude control, using the window and horizon as the attitude reference, for the retrofire maneuver. Retrofire occurred about 3 seconds date, and the optimum spacecraft attitudes were not maintained during retrofire. As a result, the spacecraft landed several hundred miles downrange of the planned landing point. Because of this recovery of the astronaut was not accomplished until about 3 hours after landing. The spacecraft was retrieved later by a destroyer after about 6 hours in the water. Exact cause of the control system malfunction was not determined because the scanner circuitry suspected of causing the anomaly was lost when the antenna section was jettisoned during the landing phase. Changes in checkout procedures used in launch preparations were incorporated to prevent recurrence of this type of problem.
MA-7 Gallery
 MA-7 Liftoff |
 Intrepid Carpenter |
 Carpenter Aboard Intrepid |
 Conversation with JFK |
More Information
See also Aurora 7, Spacecraft 18, Scott Carpenter
