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Author
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Topic: Mercury-Atlas 8: Naming "Sigma 7"
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canyon42
Member Posts: 238
From: Ohio
Registered: Mar 2006
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posted 07-04-2009 04:31 PM
   
I was talking about the Mercury missions on a non-space-related web site and mentioned Schirra's Sigma 7, which I said was to represent the Greek letter/symbol's meaning in mathematics and engineering--the reason that I've always heard for the name.Someone responded that they attended the same engineering school as Schirra (but a few years later) and that Schirra was a member of a fraternity called Sigma Pi, and that people at the school had believed that this was the reason for the craft's name--or at least a secondary reason for Schirra to choose it. I've never heard that explanation. Anyone else? |
Brock
Member Posts: 30
From: Orlando, Florida
Registered: Oct 2005
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posted 07-05-2009 09:47 AM
Wally mentioned that the Sigma meant "the sum of all engineering efforts". He wanted to honor the entire team that had put him in a position to fly his mission. |
Michael Davis
Member Posts: 530
From: Houston, Texas
Registered: Aug 2002
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posted 07-05-2009 11:30 AM
I've never heard of an explaination for the Sigma name other than one connected to engineering. I have read that Schirra was determined that his mission be a textbook example of a test flight following the difficulties of Carpenter's mission.Using Sigma reinforced his desire to fly a by-the-book engineering oriented mission after the "exploring" done by Carpenter. |
Steve Procter
Member Posts: 1031
From: Leeds, Yorkshire, UK
Registered: Oct 2000
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posted 07-05-2009 11:47 AM
In August 1998 Wally was kind enough to sign a number of items through the mail for me and in my letter I asked how the name Sigma 7 came about.Wally returned that page of my letter to me and in on the bottom of the page under my question he wrote: Sigma or 'the symbol' is the engineering symbol for "the sum of" - thus the sum = Mercury 8. |
Jay Gallentine
Member Posts: 287
From: Shorewood, MN, USA
Registered: Sep 2004
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posted 07-05-2009 03:49 PM
Wally graciously responded to me through the mail also, in answer to the same question. He wrote, "Sigma = sum of engineering efforts".How many of us asked him this same question, and to how many of us did he so generously respond?! |
ColinBurgess
Member Posts: 2043
From: Sydney, Australia
Registered: Sep 2003
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posted 07-05-2009 05:01 PM
Just to add to the pot: I also believe Scott Carpenter grew up near the corner of Aurora and Seventh Avenues. |
mjanovec
Member Posts: 3811
From: Midwest, USA
Registered: Jul 2005
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posted 07-06-2009 04:58 PM
quote:
Originally posted by canyon42:
Schirra was a member of a fraternity called Sigma Pi, and that people at the school had believed that this was the reason for the craft's name
Even though Schirra has said that the "Sigma" name was meant to represent the sum of the engineering efforts, I also can't help but wonder if his membership in that fraternity might have played some role in him choosing the name. It's quite possible his time in the fraternity raised his awareness of the meaning of the Sigma symbol and that planted the seed of an idea in his head for using that symbol when naming his spacecraft...even if he wasn't specifically meaning to name the spacecraft after his fraternity. |
mjanovec
Member Posts: 3811
From: Midwest, USA
Registered: Jul 2005
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posted 07-06-2009 05:03 PM
quote:
Originally posted by ColinBurgess:
Just to add to the pot: I also believe Scott Carpenter grew up near the corner of Aurora and Seventh Avenues.
Maybe we'll eventually discover that Gordon Cooper had seven dates with a girl named Faith while in high school.  |
FFrench
Member Posts: 3165
From: San Diego
Registered: Feb 2002
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posted 07-06-2009 05:11 PM
quote:
Originally posted by mjanovec:
Even though Schirra has said that the "Sigma" name was meant to represent the sum of the engineering efforts, I also can't help but wonder if his membership in that fraternity might have played some role in him choosing the name.
Ya never know. Apropos of nothing, Deke Slayton was going to call his spacecraft "Delta 7," before Schirra got to fly. "Deke" is the nickname of the Delta Kappa Epsilon (DKE) fraternity. I believe Alan Bean is a "Deke." |
AstroAutos
Member Posts: 803
From: Co. Monaghan, Republic of Ireland
Registered: Mar 2009
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posted 08-20-2009 11:23 AM
Just a note on why Shirra called his capsule 'Sigma 7' to confirm what most guys have been saying here.In Gene Kranz's Autobiography he states on Page 93, "I believed that the name of his capsule, Sigma 7, symbolized the sum of all the efforts of design, test, and operations necessary for success in space. For us, it signified teamwork." |
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