Everything you never knew you wanted to know about the Mercury Project
MA-8
From RixWiki
Description of Mission
From SP-45 Mercury project summary
The Mercury-Atlas 8 (MA-8) vehicle was launched from the Cape Canaveral launch site on October 3,1962; Astronaut Walter M. Schirra, Jr., was the pilot. The MA-8 mission was planned for six orbital passes in order to acquire additional operational experience and human and systems performance information for extended manned orbital space flight. The objectives of the mission were successfully accomplished. The orbital parameters were as follows: perigee, 86.9 nautical miles; and apogee, 152.8 nautical miles. The space vehicle for this mission consisted of production spacecraft 16 and Atlas launch vehicle 113D. The spacecraft was basically the same as spacecraft 18 utilized on the previous mission; however, a number of changes were made in the configuration to increase reliability, to save weight, to provide for experiments, and to conduct systems evaluations. The launch vehicle also had some changes as compared with the previous Mercury-Atlas launch vehicle. These changes include the following: the fuel tank insulation bulkhead was removed at the factory to be similar to the launch vehicle for the MA-6 mission, the two booster engine thrust chambers had baffled ejectors installed for improved combustion characteristics, and no holddown delay was programed between engine start and beginning of release sequence.
The pilot performed numerous experiments, observations, and systems evaluations during his mission. For the first time, extended periods of drifting flight were accomplished. Pilot adherence to the flight plan was excellent. Basic spacecraft systems, launch-vehicle systems, and ground-network systems performed well with only a few minor anomalies. The landing was made in the Pacific Ocean within sight of the primary recovery ship, and the spacecraft and pilot were recovered in about 40 minutes.
MA-8 Gallery
 MA-8 Liftoff |
 Recovery operations |
 Frogmen attach tow line |
 Hoisting aboard USS Keersarge |
 MA-8 Post Recovery |
More Information
See also Sigma 7, Spacecraft 16, Wally Schirra
