posted 03-01-2006 03:06 PM               

Audio quality is excellent and Carpenter's voice reporting is crisp and business-like. He speaks quickly and precisely, almost like a professional radio announcer. Voice reporting is punctuated with periods of silence--with a low machine whine in the background and sometimes the sound of the astronaut breathing.

On the first pass, you can really tell that his first sight of Venus just knocked his socks off. That was evident too just from the transcript. But the audio re: Venus is powerful. You can tell how beautiful the astronaut thinks the sight is.

Chocolate nougat is now melting in the cabin. Carpenter is talking with his mouth full (first time solid food eaten in space).

He's now talking with Canton capcom.

A note about Carpenter's speaking voice, not adequately captured on some recording equipment (this was especially evident in the 1959 press conference, in which Carpenter sounds almost like Alvin the chipmunk).

He has nice bass undertones in his speaking voice, but the overtones--the timbre--of his speaking and singing voice are those of the oboe, a reed instrument.

posted 03-01-2006 05:08 PM               

No surprises.

I listened carefully to the second pass California exchange ("General Kraft . . ." between Carpenter and Shepard (California capcom), thinking I'd hear some emotion, like "I love you, man" from the beer commercials. Nothing like that at all.

Just more clipped, precise reporting.

Carpenter reports with evident satisfaction, though, that his suit temp is coming down and that he is "quite comfortable."

Lots of voice reporting just to the voice recorder. He doesn't much like the shiny finish on the star charts, which reflect the available light and make the charts hard to read. He also offers, periodically, criticism of cabin environment--light leaks that make it impossible to get dark adapted.

posted 03-01-2006 05:28 PM               

No emotion.

"I think we're in good shape."

He's approaching California, third pass, now. The com tech. Now Al's on.

They talk all the way through to retrojettison.

BTW, Carpenter never says "Roger, understand." Just "Roger." Economical speaking style. "Roger, understand" might be Air Force? I hear it from the nonpilot capcoms and from Air Force-trained capcoms Gus and Deke. They both say "Roger, understand."

Al says "Roger" only, w/o the "understand" appended. Discussing retroattitude and the loss of manual fuel and what Carpenter observes out his window.

Now Gus is on, as Cape capcom.

posted 03-01-2006 05:40 PM               

Reports feeling of acceleration and observations out the window, at .5g.

"There is 1 g . . . green flashes out there . . . entry is going well."

Here is the Bill Dana moment, as a chunk of heatshield tears off, causing pilot to observe that it looks like part of the "tower" tearing off (he means the small end of the capsule).

"Oh, I hope not!" Carpenter then adds, with Jose Jimenez mock fear.

Yep--deadpan Carpenter comic delivery.

You can hear the gs in his voice now.

Oscillations are wild, so he decides to pull the drogue chute. That helps. He keeps reporting all his actions. Main chute out at 13,000. "The main chute is out . and . reefed . and . it . looks . ~good~ . to. me," said like that in an emphatic and powerful cadence.

"Does anyone read Aurora 7? over."

Discussion of Mercury recovery forces at 5000 feet. He hears Gus.

"Roger, understand one hour."

The last audio.

Wow.

posted 03-01-2006 05:53 PM               

I'm really happy for you.

posted 03-01-2006 06:02 PM            

quote:

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Originally posted by ejectr:
For the "eureka" moment as Carpenter discovers that the fireflies are capsule emanating, you can actually hear the pilot rapping the wall of his capsule, to make the firefly streams fly off in swarms from the capsule. It's a blast to hear.

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posted 03-01-2006 07:06 PM            

quote:

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Originally posted by GoesTo11:
The Mercury and Gemini spacecraft had no mechanisms for dumping urine overboard.

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posted 03-01-2006 07:09 PM            

quote:

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Originally posted by GoesTo11:
Based on Kris' report, the Mercury set is now definitely on my "must buy" list. I'm a child of the Shuttle era; the novelty of those early flights is a real thrill for me.

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The Mercury set is a must. The audio loops are just the beginning. If you're new to Marc's stuff, Merc is a great place to start! be be sure to get 'em all!

posted 03-01-2006 07:22 PM               

I have the Spacecraft Films Apollo 11 set and it's awesome... Saw on another thread that an expanded edition is coming out soon, so I'll be investing in more SCF releases.