posted 03-06-2006 04:23 AM               

quote:

---

Originally posted by H E Pennypacker:
Why did you include Shakey in that group?

---

More cred than Little Richard? What, are you Canadian? And say what you will about occasional dumb lyrics, Prince has his moments, too.

posted 03-06-2006 12:39 PM               

quote:

---

Originally posted by SCE to AUX:
Yup, judging by your & DP's accounts in FSS, Glenn worked the DP pretty hard as a backup, very meticulous and concentrated. DP was better prepared.

---

I had a slightly different point, which I didn't make very well. I'll try again.

Yes,in March 1962 no one, besides Glenn, was better prepared for orbital flight than Scott Carpenter.

This stark fact--a prepared astronaut--was the principal driver for the Gilruth decision to bypass Deke's alternate, Wally, when Deke was medically grounded.

This is because Carpenter had been training as an alternate since September 1961 for a three-orbit flight, MA-6.

He had been training, moreover, in lockstep with a Marine. He had no flight of his own. No goal but to be there in the highly unlikely case that John could not.

Deke, meanwhile, was training for MA-7, with Wally acting as Carpenter to his Glenn.

Still John and Scott took the lion's share of sims and, well, of everything leading up to the flight of Friendship 7. It was John's contour couch that everyone had to use, because of time constraints, in running the sims.

This prime-alternate dynamic strikes me as proper. The alternate should be focused on the prime mission.

This dynamic was not in effect for MA-7; Wally had both MA-7 (alternate) and MA-8 (prime) in mind--at least this is the way Carpenter has explained it to me a few years ago.

As I said, a different dynamic.

Is it one Gilruth could have avoided?

I'm asking, because I don't know.

With MA-7, Gilruth had only a couple of ways to go with his four unflown astronauts: he could have flown a cardiologically compromised Slayton. He could have flown Wally. He could have flown Carpenter or Cooper. But what happens to the ensuing prime-alternate dynamic when you mess with men's egos?

posted 03-06-2006 03:27 PM               

quote:

---

Originally posted by KC Stoever:
But what happens to the ensuing prime-alternate dynamic when you mess with men's egos?

---

These guys were all dedicated and energized beyond belief. Every one of them would have flown in a garbage can launched with bottle rockets if that was the plan. And, frankly, that's pretty much what Mercury was: a progressive series of missions primarily to see how humans reacted to the stresses of space flight.

Was it good or bad Deke Slayton didn't get MA-7? Both. He got jobbed for sure and I think he was slightly bitter toward some folks including the DP. But he made an invaluable contribution as the Astronauts' "squadron leader".

I think Wally Schirra was told he would fly MA-8 pretty soon after the MA-7 assignment was given to your Old Man, and he doesn't seem like the sort that would harbor a grudge or hold a malicious thought under any circumstance. At least that's my impression, but you personally know the man so you'd know better than I.

Given your father's very high level of physical fitness, he could have flown MA-8, MA-9 or the proposed 3-day MA-10 with no difficulty. But since MA-7 was a modified version of MA-6 he was uniquely suited for the mission due to the sim time and training as backup for John Glenn. As professional flyers I believe the other Mercury Guys, Wally Schirra in particular since he was most affected, recognized that fact. Witness the obvious care and concern they extended to their brother as capcoms, right?

posted 03-06-2006 03:28 PM               

quote:

---

Originally posted by H E Pennypacker:
30-Odd Foot Of Grunts..

---

posted 03-06-2006 03:51 PM               

It got me to thinking that maybe the Dynamic Pioneer might need his OWN theme song. I wouldn't even know who to suggest.

Sorry. Missed the query. Is "Yellow Bird" the DP's theme song, or may I suggest another.

Neil Young, "Long May She Run."

posted 03-06-2006 03:58 PM               

quote:

---

Originally posted by KC Stoever:
The "she" in this case being a favorite car--symbolizing all the beautiful high-performance machines he seems to love beyond measure.

---

posted 03-06-2006 05:56 PM               

Walt Williams by the way, has stated that he made the decision to assign Carpenter to MA-7 and to keep Schirra as backup.

posted 03-06-2006 07:32 PM               

quote:

---

Originally posted by H E Pennypacker:
You can't spell "sheesh" without "HE"...

---

quote:

---

Is "Yellow Bird" the DP's theme song, or may I suggest another. Neil Young...

---

posted 03-06-2006 08:40 PM               

quote:

---

Originally posted by taneal1:
Perhaps you (aka the "DPD"), or the "DP" himself could confirm or deny?

---

posted 03-06-2006 09:01 PM               

quote:

---

Originally posted by KC Stoever:
Your read, and your sources, outrank mine.

---

posted 03-06-2006 09:20 PM            

quote:

---

Originally posted by KC Stoever:
Any thoughts?

---

Scott and John were unique in thier ability to develop the prime-alternate dynamic and as a result of the DP's singular concentration and no distraction of flight assignment, he was the best pilot for MA-7. Wally's split attention may have concerned Gilruth at a time when mission success was paramount.

I agree with you that the prime-alternate is the best model for training, but with 6 available pilots serving as prime and backup for Mercury in such a compressed amount of time, I'm not sure it was possible.

For Gilruth to maintain the "distracted" prime-alternate model, NASA would have at least two tiers of training "sets" and without more pilots and time of course that was not possible. Not when facing the prospect of a "Red Moon".