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Author
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Topic: Mercury astronauts' launch day breakfast
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mensax
Member Posts: 861
From: Virginia
Registered: Apr 2002
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posted 04-09-2006 07:09 AM
   
I don't believe I've ever seen a photo of Mercury astronauts having breakfast before the launch. Were photos taken? Did they dine at the same table as Gemini, Apollo and shuttle astronauts? |
heng44
Member Posts: 3715
From: Netherlands
Registered: Nov 2001
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posted 04-09-2006 07:20 AM
The Mercury astronauts were photographed during breakfast.They ate in Hangar S, not at the same table as the Gemini and Apollo astronauts. I believe Gemini 3 was the first crew to eat their pre-launch breakfast in the Manned Spacecraft Operations Building (now called Operations and Checkout Building).  |
mensax
Member Posts: 861
From: Virginia
Registered: Apr 2002
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posted 04-09-2006 09:52 AM
Thanks Ed! A very interesting picture. The Mercury astronauts didn't dine quite as fancy as later ones. I notice they're eating off of cafeteria trays and with no tablecloth. So, did the shuttle crews continue eating at the same area or did they switch to new larger area?It would be interesting to know who the astronauts dined with. I know on later flights that Deke Slayton and Hal Collins were regulars. I wonder if there was any record kept of this? So, who came up with the standard steak and eggs? Was that Alan Shepard? I wonder where the Mercury table and Apollo tables ended up? In a museum? |
heng44
Member Posts: 3715
From: Netherlands
Registered: Nov 2001
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posted 04-09-2006 10:35 AM
Yes, the shuttle crews used the same dining area as the Gemini and Apollo crews. Even the curtains didn't change until after the Challenger disaster!Usually there were some fellow astronauts and/or NASA brass. Sometimes a personal guest of one of the crew... |
Brock
Member Posts: 33
From: Orlando, Florida
Registered: Oct 2005
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posted 04-10-2006 09:01 AM
Spacecraft Films' Mercury set shows most of the launch day pre-flight breakfasts. The crew quarter facilities at Hangar S look extremely austere. If you look closely at the coverage, one notices quickly that the room where they ate on those mornings was not a dining room. In fact you can see blackboards and charts that are sitting next to some file cabinets.I was also told that the Mercury astronauts usually did not eat in Hangar S unless it was for their launch day or the days just leading up to their flights. Apparently there was a dining facility in the Cape Industrial area not far from Hangar S where the Air Force dieticians fed them. Can't confirm that but I have read that and was told that by folks who worked at the Cape back in the day. |
YankeeClipper
Member Posts: 635
From: Dublin, Ireland
Registered: Mar 2011
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posted 07-10-2018 08:59 PM
A 2013 article from The Atlantic details the Mercury-Redstone 3 pre-flight ritual. The article contains some details regarding the breakfast arrangements. No coffee was permitted for breakfast on launch morning because of its diuretic properties. |
Skylon
Member Posts: 320
From:
Registered: Sep 2010
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posted 07-11-2018 09:56 AM
Was the "no coffee" rule only for MR-3? Because the photo posted here shows Glenn with a cup of something. Or is it tea?While doing a quick search, in this pre-launch breakfast for Gemini 8, Armstrong's cup clearly has a tea-bag off to the side of it.  |
ColinBurgess
Member Posts: 2152
From: Sydney, Australia
Registered: Sep 2003
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posted 07-11-2018 05:01 PM
In researching my book, "Friendship 7," I found a reference to Glenn drinking Postum, a caffeine-free coffee substitute at his launch day breakfast. But in my follow-up book on Scott Carpenter's flight it was stated that he rejected the Posium and drank regular coffee with his pre-launch breakfast. |
Lagazza
Member Posts: 48
From: Santa Monica, CA
Registered: Sep 2017
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posted 07-21-2018 04:45 PM
This is from a news reference I have. Might not be pre-flight. Still interesting. |
Jim Behling
Member Posts: 1862
From: Cape Canaveral, FL
Registered: Mar 2010
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posted 06-20-2023 09:34 PM
quote:
Originally posted by Brock
Apparently there was a dining facility in the Cape Industrial area not far from Hangar S where the Air Force dieticians fed them.
[Replying to a 2006 post] Forward Food Facility. It was the converted LC-3/4 Blockhouse. |
Watts Way
Member Posts: 12
From: St. Louis, MO, USA
Registered: Mar 2023
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posted 07-06-2023 02:01 PM
Here are two pre-flight breakfast photos from Mercury that might be of interest:The NASA caption on the back of S-62-225 reads, "Astronaut John H. Glenn, Jr. has a breakfast with another prominent marine, Gen. D. M. Shoup, Commandant of the U.S. Marine Corps." The photo carries no date. The NASA caption on the back of 63-MA9-133 reads, "CAPE CANAVERAL, FLA. - Astronauts Slayton, Cooper, Schirra, and Dr. H. A. Minners have breakfast at Hangar "S" before Astronaut L. Cordon Cooper Suited up for his 22-orbit mission." The photo is dated 15 May 1963.  
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Philip
Member Posts: 6246
From: Brussels, Belgium
Registered: Jan 2001
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posted 07-07-2023 07:21 AM
Nobody mentioned the term "low flatulence" breakfast... important for spacefarers in tight spacesuits and tiny capsules. |
Captain Apollo
Member Posts: 358
From: UK
Registered: Jun 2004
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posted 07-08-2023 08:06 AM
quote:
Originally posted by Jim Behling:
Forward Food Facility.
There are 16 posts documenting the Forward Food Facility (photos, then and now) on the Facebook page of the Cape Canaveral Space Museum. |
Watts Way
Member Posts: 12
From: St. Louis, MO, USA
Registered: Mar 2023
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posted 01-21-2024 05:49 PM
NASA photo 61-MR4-73(S) is of Gus Grissom having breakfast before a scrubbed launch. The NASA caption off the back of the photo reads: Astronaut Virgil I. Grissom yawns just before he began his 2:15 a.m. breakfast at Hangar "S". He ate a hardy meal of filet, toast, jelly, orange juice, two poached eggs, coffee and a dish of peaches. Grissom’s MR-4 flight was postponed due to unfavorable weather conditions over the launch area. .jpg) |
Captain Apollo
Member Posts: 358
From: UK
Registered: Jun 2004
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posted 01-30-2024 09:24 AM
I see the blue flowers are not there for Mercury. |
LM-12
Member Posts: 3877
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Oct 2010
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posted 01-30-2024 09:57 AM
NASA photo S61-02735 is dated 5 May 1961 and has this caption: Astronauts Alan Shepard and John Glenn at breakfast before Shepard's Mercury-Redstone 3 (MR-3) spaceflight.  |
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