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Author
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Topic: Mercury-Atlas 7: Quality of pilot camera footage
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tlifan2
Member Posts: 49
From: Palm Coast, Florida
Registered: Feb 2014
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posted 12-01-2014 08:37 PM
   
Does anyone know why the film of Scott Carpenter during the Mercury-Atlas 7 flight was so grainy? Was it damaged by salt water? The pilot footage of both John Glenn and Wally Schirra was excellent. |
ColinBurgess
Member Posts: 2043
From: Sydney, Australia
Registered: Sep 2003
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posted 12-01-2014 08:51 PM
I know the poor film quality didn't feature in my research for Scott's story in "Into That Silent Sea," although I do know that many of his Earth-observation photos were ruined when his still camera was briefly immersed in salt water after splashdown.Does anyone else have an answer? |
tlifan2
Member Posts: 49
From: Palm Coast, Florida
Registered: Feb 2014
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posted 12-02-2014 08:09 PM
I believe I have the answer to my own question. Page 9 of the Results of the Second United States Manned Orbital Space Flight states "the pilot-observer camera film suffered sea-water immersion after the flight, and its quality and usefulness were somewhat limited." Apparently a significant amount of sea water entered the cabin as Carpenter exited via the pressure bulkhead. |
ColinBurgess
Member Posts: 2043
From: Sydney, Australia
Registered: Sep 2003
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posted 12-02-2014 08:40 PM
I believe this was about the still camera Carpenter took with him as he exited through the top of the spacecraft. When he was hooked up and ready to be lifted into the recovery helicopter he gave the all-clear to haul him up, but he once wrote that instead of going up, he found himself initially going down until he was completely submerged, except for his raised hand holding the camera, which he managed to keep clear of the water. However some water did intrude, and about 50 percent of his Earth observation photographs were ruined. |
ColinBurgess
Member Posts: 2043
From: Sydney, Australia
Registered: Sep 2003
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posted 12-07-2014 09:47 PM
Further to the above question regarding the cine film of Carpenter during his flight, I finally found the answer in the "Postlaunch Memorandum Report for Mercury-Atlas No.7 (MA-7)." In there (pg. 7-32) it says, "The pilot-observer camera film [which was the camera aimed at Carpenter] was of poor technical quality resulting from its postlanding immersion in sea water, and it was therefore of limited usefulness."When Aurora 7 was lifted aboard the USS Intrepid almost 65 gallons of water were found sloshing around inside the cabin, so it's no surprise that a lot of items would have suffered water damage. |
Robert Pearlman
Editor Posts: 43576
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 12-13-2014 08:09 PM
quote:
Originally posted by ColinBurgess:
When Aurora 7 was lifted aboard the USS Intrepid...
A slight correction to Colin's otherwise informative post: as described in Kris Stoever's and Carpenter's "For Spacious Skies," it was the USS John R. Pierce that recovered Aurora 7 while the Intrepid recovered Carpenter. The John R. Pierce, rewarded for its hustle, would recover the capsule. |
ColinBurgess
Member Posts: 2043
From: Sydney, Australia
Registered: Sep 2003
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posted 12-14-2014 04:01 PM
Oops, yes ... I did indeed make an error in my explanation by saying that Aurora 7 was hauled aboard the Intrepid when it was indeed the crew of the John R. Pierce who brought the unoccupied spacecraft aboard. Just a lapse in concentration as I have been in touch with several crewmembers from both the Intrepid and Pierce for my forthcoming book "Aurora 7" (in the Mercury series), as well as crew from the USS Farragot, which kept a close watch on the bobbing spacecraft until a recovery-enabled ship could lift it out of the water. A whale boat launched from the Farragut did check the flotation devices on Aurora 7 while waiting for the Pierce to reach the spacecraft, as well as retrieving the paramedic's gear and Carpenter's personal equipment.Sadly, so many people closely associated with the flight of Aurora 7 are no longer with us, but I have managed to get some great stories from several others. |
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