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Author
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Topic: Mercury recovery chart: rarity and importance
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moonnut
Member Posts: 248
From: Andover, MN
Registered: Apr 2013
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posted 08-23-2015 11:54 AM
   
I recently purchased an interesting item and would like to get some info and perspective on it. I purchased from a gentleman a complete set of Mercury recovery charts - MRC1 through MRC10. Each map measures 57x38 inches and there are 10 sections. If the map were laid out together it would be around 24 x 6 1/2 feet!! The great thing is that the seller informed me that they are from Dr. Donald E. Stullken's estate. The seller sent me a bunch of his personal pamphlets and letters from many military personnel generals, commanders, etc. Some thanking him for the Apollo training, etc. So I am quite sure it's all legit. The charts have writing on a couple of them. Mainly the chart that has Florida on it. I'm curious to know if these are rare charts and the importance from an artifact standpoint. Also, if someone could decipher what is written on it. Here are a few pics of some of the items. Thanks again everyone. |
Ross
Member Posts: 472
From: Australia
Registered: Jul 2003
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posted 08-25-2015 09:51 AM
I'm not sure what your items are worth but the maps are extremely interesting. There is not much information about the exact location of Recovery Ships during Project Mercury so your maps are of a lot of interest. I host a site on the US Navy recovery effort (mainly from the philatelic point of view) and would be very interested in any scans you are able to produce of your maps. |
moonnut
Member Posts: 248
From: Andover, MN
Registered: Apr 2013
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posted 08-25-2015 11:06 AM
I have really been trying to rack my brain on these charts. Written date on chart says June 15, 1962. That is about three weeks after Aurora 7. So the charts may have been used for Sigma 7 and Faith 7? I assume all the numbered paths are calculated spacecraft orbital paths. They are numbered up to 19 at which that path ends above Puerto Rico. Directly above that are handwritten codes that say: P2V5 DD CV P2V6 in that order. I may think that these are ship codes?The majority of the writing on the chart is on the first orbital path leaving Cape Canaveral and crossing all the way over to Spain's Canary Islands. Here are the codes leading from the Cape to the Canary Islands in order: P2V1 DD DD DD ARS1 DD P5M1 DD DD ARS2 WV1 DD DD WV2 DD WV3 AO P2V3 DD P2V4 DD Finally lying on orbital path 3 near Bermuda is P5M2 DD P2V2 DDAnyone have ideas on the codes and maybe a possible mission this was used for? Also, anyone know of a book that gets into detail on the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo recoveries, possibly detailing some of Dr. Stullken's work? |
Lou Chinal
Member Posts: 1306
From: Staten Island, NY
Registered: Jun 2007
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posted 08-25-2015 11:52 AM
I assume that Dr. Donald Stulken is the same person that developed the flotation collar after the MR-4 recovery. |
moonnut
Member Posts: 248
From: Andover, MN
Registered: Apr 2013
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posted 08-25-2015 12:34 PM
Yes, called The Stullken Collar. He also was part of the team that developed the bio capsules used to send the monkeys "Old Reliable" and "Baker" into space. He then served as Chief of Recovery Operations for Mercury, Gemini, Apollo, Skylab and ASTP missions. And was also usually the first person to greet the astronauts upon their recovery. |
moonnut
Member Posts: 248
From: Andover, MN
Registered: Apr 2013
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posted 08-25-2015 12:39 PM
Ross, it would be difficult to scan this chart, its 57 x 38". I can try to take better pics section by section. |
minipci
Member Posts: 365
From: London, UK
Registered: Jul 2009
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posted 08-26-2015 06:32 AM
Are the "P2V1" etc possibly referring to Lockheed P2V Neptune aircraft? |
Ross
Member Posts: 472
From: Australia
Registered: Jul 2003
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posted 08-26-2015 08:43 AM
I can confirm the codes: - DD - Destroyer
- ARS - Salvage & Rescue Ship
- A0 - Oiler
- P2V - Lockheed aircraft
- WV - different type of Lockheed aircraft
- P5M - Martin aircraft
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moonnut
Member Posts: 248
From: Andover, MN
Registered: Apr 2013
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posted 08-26-2015 06:18 PM
Only one code missed. What is CV? That is a code that is close to the Aurora 7 recovery area. About 200 miles west. Correlating the codes you have me, I'm guessing that it is a ship of some kind. Carrier?Also, handwritten at the top left corner of the map is 4-BAB-C6. Top of the map says, REFERENCE, OP. PLAN COMDESFLAT FOUR #1-62 15 JUNE 1962. |
moonnut
Member Posts: 248
From: Andover, MN
Registered: Apr 2013
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posted 08-26-2015 08:27 PM
After doing even more research and reading the nasa.gov files about Aurora 7's recovery, I believe I have Dr. Stullken's Aurora 7 recovery charts. The NASA files say that upon splashdown one P2V aircraft detected Aurora 7's beacon 50 miles away and another detected it 250 miles away. He was airlifted to the USS Intrepid aircraft carrier and later lifted to Grand Turk Island AFB. The capsule was picked up by the destroyer USS Pierce and brought back to the Cape the next day. Listed on my map in the area of Aurora 7's recovery. I have two P2Vs on the map about 200 miles apart. I have an aircraft carrier and destroyer between the two aircraft, on my map as DD and CV. CV being closer to the splashdown site. Timelines are very well within limits. From splashdown to landing on the USS Intrepid was about 4 1/2 hours. He was picked from the life raft approximately 3+ hours after splashdown and heloed to USS Intrepid which on my map is about 100 so miles north of Puerto Rico. All the mileages and timelines concerning traveling distances seem to be very accurate. I believe I pictured this area in the pics I posted. Tell me if my calculations are wrong. |
moorouge
Member Posts: 2454
From: U.K.
Registered: Jul 2009
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posted 08-27-2015 01:38 AM
Just a small complication to your summary. The Pierce was not the first destroyer on the scene as this extract from an article I wrote for publication back in 1990 shows - Meanwhile, the recovery forces had not been idle. Using the radar tracking data, a SA-16 Air Rescue plane was launched to the predicted point of splash-down some eight minutes before this occurred. A possible radar contact was made by the searching aircraft about two minutes before splash-down though this was not reported for a further six minutes. Twelve minutes later these contacts were confirmed. Thirty nine minutes after the capsule hit the water a visual sighting was made and a minute later Carpenter was seen to be sitting in the life-raft beside the capsule. Within an hour a pararescue team was dropped, the first indication that Carpenter had that this had happened being when the first of the two man team grabbed the life-raft and said, "Hello!"With the flotation collar attached and a hole cut in the left leg of his spacesuit to drain out the water, there was a two hour wait before Carpenter was in a helicopter and starting on a seventy one minute flight to the carrier Intrepid. Recovery of Aurora 7 took a little longer. Over three and a half hours elapsed before the destroyer Farragut arrived on the scene to keep an eye on things whilst waiting for the arrival of the USS John R. Pierce. It was this latter vessel that took the capsule onboard six hours and eleven minutes after it hit the water. |
moonnut
Member Posts: 248
From: Andover, MN
Registered: Apr 2013
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posted 08-27-2015 06:37 AM
I am skeptical myself now after the most glaring point of the map. May 24th was the launch date. My map says June 15th. |
minipci
Member Posts: 365
From: London, UK
Registered: Jul 2009
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posted 08-27-2015 06:44 AM
quote:
Originally posted by moonnut:
Only one code missed. What is CV?
Yes, CV is definitely an aircraft carrier. |
moonnut
Member Posts: 248
From: Andover, MN
Registered: Apr 2013
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posted 08-27-2015 11:49 AM
I looked through NASA's Aurora 7 post-launch memorandum and it shows the recovery ship locations, etc. Their map looks exactly like mine, although with a little more detail. In that more detailed map, it shows the second destroyer in the splashdown area, but not within the circled area on the map. Also, a merchantman ship was very close in the area too. |
moorouge
Member Posts: 2454
From: U.K.
Registered: Jul 2009
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posted 08-30-2015 01:36 AM
Just to confuse you even more, this is a list of the vessels that NASA says were involved with the MA-7 flight - - USS John R. Pierce (actual recovery ship),
- USS Intrepid (PRS), USS Barton, USS Dewey,
- USS Donner, USS Ellison, USS Elokomin, USS English, USS Farragut, USS Forrestal, USS Fred T. Berry, USS Hank, USS Hoist, USS Hunt, USS Massey, USS Moale, USS Remey, USS Robinson, USS Shenandoah, USS Soley, USS Spiegel Grove, USS Sturdy, USS Swerve, USS Wren.
This list, it says, does not include tracking vessels. |
Ross
Member Posts: 472
From: Australia
Registered: Jul 2003
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posted 08-30-2015 09:57 AM
Unfortunately I've found that both NASA and US DOD lists are inaccurate. To obtain the most accurate list it has been necessary to consult a number of different sources, especially ones written at the time of the mission. See my site
for what I believe is the most accurate list.Neither the USS Ellison nor the USS Shenandoah were involved. |
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