The Flight Research Laboratory
If you look to the southeast, you’ll see a big aircraft hangar. Built in 1951 for $3.5 million, this hangar would, within a decade of opening its doors, become the initial hub of the United States’ efforts to achieve and perfect manned spaceflight. When the USSR launched Sputnik in 1957, NACA knew it would have to answer quickly and competently, since the cold war now extended into the highest reaches of Earth’s atmosphere and would soon escape into space. In September 1958, NACA created the “Joint Manned Satellite Panel” to identify the requirements for piloted satellites. On October 1, 1958, NACA became NASA, highlighting America’s new emphasis on space exploration. On October 7th, the Panel submitted final requirements for a manned space capsule and outlined a program that would launch Americans into space. Days later, NASA commissioned “the Space Task Group” which, in November 1958, was renamed “Project Mercury.” Over the next few months, Project Mercury’s managers scoured over 500 military test pilot resumes. In spring 1959, the final selection of the Mercury Seven - America’s first astronauts - was released. These men were Scott Carpenter, Gordon Cooper, John Glenn, Gus Grissom, Wally Schirra, Alan Shepard, and Deke Slayton. They were reassigned to NASA Langley Research Center and set up shop in the Flight Research Laboratory. It wasn’t until 1963 when the NASA Manned Spaceflight Center in Houston (now called the Johnson Space Center) that astronaut training began shifting away from Langley. Even then, astronauts regularly returned to train on simulators for practicing operations in orbital flight and preparations for landing on the moon.
Some of the simulators used in the Flight Research Laboratory were:
1. The Air Lubricated Free Altitude Trainer: astronauts practiced controlling the pitch, yaw, and roll of their spacecraft using windows displaying Earth, the moon, and celestial bodies as references.
http://history.nasa.gov/MR-4/images/fig7-3.jpg
2. The Procedures Trainer: astronauts practiced controlling pitch, yaw, and roll while also experiencing space suit pressurization, noise, and heat.
http://history.nasa.gov/SP-45/p178k.jpg
3. The Environmental Control Simulator: in a decompression chamber, astronauts practiced using spacecraft module controls in pressurized situations that reproduced the conditions they would experience during their trip to space and back.
4. The Rendezvous Docking Simulator: astronauts practiced Earth and Lunar orbital docking procedures in a safe environment that closely resembled a space environment. Not only was Neil Armstrong the first person to land on the moon, he was also commander of the Gemini 8 mission, the first successful docking of two spacecraft in orbit (Gemini 8 docked with GATV-5003, an orbiting target vehicle).
http://crgis.ndc.nasa.gov/historic/Rendezvous_Docking_Simulator
5. The Projection Planetarium: While inside a 40-foot diameter planetarium, astronauts used visual cues to stop tumbling and used the stars to manually navigate the capsule for reentry.
http://crgis.ndc.nasa.gov/crgis/images/2/2f/1966-06-01_Projection_Planetarium.pdf (1 MB .pdf)
6. To read more about the trainers and how they were used, please visit this article for the March 1962 edition of Astronautics journal by Dr. Robert Voas of NASA:http://web.mit.edu/digitalapollo/Documents/Chapter4/manualcontrol.pdf (1MB .pdf)
The 8th Mercury Astronaut: Robert Champine, a civilian NASA test pilot and aeronautics engineer who broke the sound barrier in 1948, trained with each of the seven astronauts, overseeing or assisting their simulation work. Even before the seven astronauts were named, Mr. Champine was testing centrifuges and other simulators the astronauts would use for their training. Although he never made it into space, Mr. Champine’s robust and dedicated participation in early training contributed greatly to the success of America’s manned spaceflight program.
http://champine.wordpress.com/
To find stage 7:
Walk back up the sidewalk to the northwest to the set of poles at N 37° 05.249 W 076° 23.005 to find the next trackable’s code and stage 7. Find the pole with the metallic stencils that reads “25 AMP”. The tracking code you’re looking for is @ $ J & X@, where:
@: Look at the metallic stencils above 25 AMP. The first character is @.
$: Look for the carved letters and numbers ¼ turn to the right, below the 40 MPH sign. The very bottom row has three characters. The 3rd character is $.
&: In the same row, the 1st character is &.
Enter the tracking code here: http://www.geocaching.com/track/
