Spacelog Mercury 7

We have a Go, with a 7-orbit capability.

Roger. Sweet words.

Roger.

Okay, turnaround has stopped. I'm pitching down. I have the moon in the center of the window, and the booster off to the right slightly.

Roger. Understand.

Fly-by-wire is good in all axes; my pitch attitude is high; coming down now.

Roger. Understand.

Roger. The control system on fly-by-wire is very good. I have the booster in the center of the window now, tumbling very slowly.

Roger, Aurora Seven. Understand. You sound real good.

It's very quiet.

A steady stream of gas, white gas, out of the sustainer engine. Going to ASCS now.

Roger. Understand.

ASCS seems to be holding very well. I have a small island just below me.

Aurora Seven, standby for retrosequence times.

Standing by.

Area 1 B is 17 17.

17 17 Roger.

Roger, standby for later times. That's all I have right now.

Roger, Sequence time for end of orbit.

Send your message.

Aurora Seven, retrosequence time for end of orbit—28 26.

01 28 26, Roger.

End of mission, 04 32 39.

04 32 39, Roger.

Negative 04 3, 04 32 39.

Roger, Understand, 04 32 39.

Roger.

Roger, I have copied.

ASCS looks good, all fly-by-wire thrusters appear to be good in all axes. Going to—beginning to unstow the equipment.

Aurora Seven.

Roger, and the SECO checklist is complete. She peaked at 6.3[g's].

Cap Com. Over.

Go ahead, Gus. Loud and clear. How me?

Aurora Seven, Cap Com.

Roger, loud and clear. How me?

Aurora Seven, Cape Cap Com. Over.

Aurora Seven, Cape Cap Com. Over.

Loud and clear, Gus. How me?

Aurora Seven, Cape Cap Com. If you read, retro delay to normal?

Retro delay normal. Roger.

. . . igee 86 [nautical miles].

Roger. Copied perigee 86 [nautical miles]. Did not get apogee.

Mark. One picture of the booster. Going to transmit and record now. 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, . . . 10, 11, 12 pictures of the booster, traveling right down the center of the booster, right down the center of the window.

Going over the insertion checklist now. D-c volts is main. Retromanual fuse switch is off. Retromanual is off. All instruments are. All batteries okay. The a-c power is good. The, let's see, where's the booster? There's some beautiful cloud patterns down there. The booster is in front of a large cloud pattern. I seem to be, I seem to be much closer to the earth than I expected to be. The booster is approximately 2 miles away now.

I have some pictures of the booster, maybe 17 or 18, all together. Then going to the horizon, north sweeping south. There is the moon, just setting. Winding the camera at this time.

There are some rather large pieces floating around. The flight plan is now out. Gyros are going to free at 12 33, and I'm going to fly-by-wire to track the booster. I will—this is not a good tracking problem. Our speeds are too close to being the same. I will put it in the center of the right window, plus. I have it right in the center—I feel that—overshot there. Getting ahead of me in pitch.

The high thrusters work well, close tracking should be done on—on fly-by-wire low only. To follow the booster is a tough job with the highs. Gyros are staying within limits pretty well. Elapsed time is 13 56. I have lost sight of the booster at this time. I'll pick up a retroattitude at this time for Canary radar. Large piece of—