Scott Carpenter

Roger. My G.m.t.—my backup G.m.t. are right in synch, with G.m.t. Over.

CAPCOM

That's very good.

CAPCOM

Okay, if you're ready, I'll give you the emergency voice check. We will turn off UHF and HF transmitters for this so that you will not have to change volume.

Scott Carpenter

Roger, standing by.

CAPCOM

Aurora Seven. Muchea Cap Com. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 command voice. How do you read?

Scott Carpenter

Roger, Deke. Read you loud and clear, loud and clear emergency voice.

CAPCOM

Very good, Very good. Switching back to UHF.

CAPCOM

Aurora Seven, Muchea Cap Com on UHF. How do you read?

Scott Carpenter

Roger. Muchea Cap Com. Loud and clear. Tell Jerry and Gus and Lewis and—everybody else there, that I worked with “hello.” John Whittler, if you see him, tell him to saddle Butch up. Break, break. Is your cloud cover such that I can expect [to] see light—or flares at Woomera? Over.

CAPCOM

Roger. The cloud coverage here is 3,000 [nautical miles] overcast stratus, and we think you'll probably see them through the clouds. Woomera is clear.

CAPCOM

Seven from Muchea. Would you send us one more blood pressure?

Scott Carpenter

Roger. Starting now.

CAPCOM

We're going to send you a Z cal at this time.

Scott Carpenter

Roger. And—go ahead and send it. I'll—you'll be interested to know that I have no moon, now. The horizon is clearly visible from my present position; that's at 00 54 44 elapsed. I believe the horizon on the dark side with no moon is very good for pitch and roll. The stars are adequate for yaw in, maybe 2 minutes of tracking. Over.

CAPCOM

Roger, Understand. Sounds very good. Z cal off; R cal coming on. Mark.

CAPCOM

Suggest that you back the fuel control back to your first black mark.

Scott Carpenter

Roger. I'll try that. Going all the way off and back up a little bit lower than where I was.

CAPCOM

Roger. Your suit temperature is down a bit at this point.

CAPCOM

Your suit temperature is down, which is good.

Scott Carpenter

Well, that's a result of an increase in flow lately. I would think that—I'll try increasing rather than decreasing.

Scott Carpenter

Hello, Woomera Cap Com, Aurora Seven. Do you read?

CAPCOM

Roger. This is Woomera. This is Woomera Cap Com. Reading you loud and clear. How me?

CAPCOM

This is Muchea Cap Com. They will not be contacting you for another 3 minutes.

Scott Carpenter

Roger. Go ahead, Deke. Just trying to get the word on the flare.

CAPCOM

Roger. Understand. I'll give you the settings, correction, the attitudes for the first flare at this time. It would be plus 80 [degrees] yaw, minus 80 [degrees] in pitch.

Scott Carpenter

Roger Understand, Deke. Plus 80 [degrees] yaw, minus 80 [degrees] pitch.

CAPCOM

Roger. Okay. The Cape now advises to keep the suit setting where it was since it's coming down.

Scott Carpenter

Roger. I—for your information, I have increased it just slightly. My readings now are 7 [psia] and 7 [psia] on suit and cabin. What are my inverter temperatures and thruster line temperatures, Deke? Are they okay?

CAPCOM

Rog. We are losing you. We are losing you on air-ground. Would you care to contact Woomera at this time?

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CAPCOM

Aurora Seven, Aurora Seven, this is Woomera. Read you loud and clear. How me?

Scott Carpenter

Roger, Woomera. Reading you loud and clear, also. I'd like readout on my inverter temperatures—and mark on your flare. Over.

CAPCOM

Roger. We're going to have the flare in approximately 2 minutes. We'll give you a readout on your temperatures.

Scott Carpenter

Roger. And for your information, Rate Command is also working in all axes. Over.

CAPCOM

Roger. Rate—rate Command in all axes.

Scott Carpenter

That—that signifies that all control systems are operating satisfactorily. Over.

CAPCOM

Roger. Understand. All systems okay. We have your temperatures. Your 150 inverter, 152 [degrees]. Your 250 inverter, 167 [degrees]. Do you copy? Over.

Scott Carpenter

Roger. Copied, thank you. Standing by.

CAPCOM

We're going to have the flares. All four of them go at approximately 00 [plus] 58 plus 30. We do have an eight by eight coverage.

Scott Carpenter

Roger. I am at—plus 80 [degrees] yaw, minus 80 [degrees] pitch now.

CAPCOM

Roger. We'll give you a time hack when we come up to flare test.

CAPCOM

This is Woomera Cap Com, Seven. Surgeon reports all systems look good down here. And Systems reports everything okay on his panel.

Scott Carpenter

Roger. Thank you. It looks good to me, also.

CAPCOM

Roger. You are loud and clear. Coming up on the flare test—in approximately 25 seconds.

CAPCOM

Good air-to-ground.

Scott Carpenter

Roger. Going to fly-by-wire. It doesn't cost so much.

CAPCOM

Roger. Fly-by-wire, Manual on. Is that affirmative?

Scott Carpenter

Manual is—no, I'm, my control mode is pure fly-by-wire now.

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Spoken on May 24, 1962, 1:41 p.m. UTC (61 years, 10 months ago). Link to this transcript range is: Tweet

CAPCOM

Roger. Flare test coming up. Stand by. Mark 00 [plus] 58 plus 30. All four flares away.

CAPCOM

Aurora Seven, Aurora Seven, this is Woomera. How do you read? Over.

Scott Carpenter

Roger. Reading you loud and clear. Searching for your flares. Stand by.

CAPCOM

Roger. We still have approximately 60 seconds left.

CAPCOM

You're up to minus 50 [degrees] on roll.

Scott Carpenter

Roger. Backing off. Thank you, thank you. Backing off.

Scott Carpenter

I do not have your flares. I'm sorry, Woomera.

CAPCOM

Say again, Seven.

Scott Carpenter

No joy on your flares. I do not have your flares visible.

CAPCOM

Have copied. Evidently the cloud coverage is too tight.

Scott Carpenter

At this time I have extensive cloud coverage—wait.

CAPCOM

Did you try Aux Damp when you're in fly-by-wire to see if you are holding attitudes?

Scott Carpenter

Negative. I have verified that Aux Damp is operating satisfactorily. Over.

CAPCOM

Roger. Understand.

Scott Carpenter

I have some lights on the ground underneath me. Stand by, I'll try to identify them.

CAPCOM

Roger. Wilco.

CAPCOM

Aurora Seven, Aurora Seven, this is Woomera Cap Com. Do you read? Over.

Scott Carpenter

Loud and clear, Woomera. Go ahead.

CAPCOM

Roger. Could you give us a short report at this time?

Scott Carpenter

Roger. My control mode is fly-by-wire, gyros are free, and the maneuver switch is off. Fuel reads 75-85 [percent], oxygen 88 and 100 [percent]. Wait till I pick a washer out of the air. And everything is very good. Over.

CAPCOM

Roger. You're intermittent. What is your suit temperature? Over.

Scott Carpenter

Roger. Suit temperature is now 70 [degrees]. Suit temperature is 70 [degrees]. Steam exhaust is 70 [degrees]. The cabin exhaust is 80 [degrees].

CAPCOM

Roger. Do you confirm—do you have your—back down to the black scribe mark?

Scott Carpenter

That is negative. I have then both set on seven at this time and—an increase in setting resulted in a decrease—in suit temperature. I think I'd like to try—try them at this setting a little while longer. Over.

CAPCOM

Roger. Understand. I believe at this time you're supposed to have your midnight snack.

Scott Carpenter

Roger. I'll get to that shortly.

CAPCOM

Roger. You're starting to drift or fade slightly.

CAPCOM

Are you prepared to go into drifting flight before too long?

Scott Carpenter

Roger. I can do that at this time. At night yawed—

CAPCOM

. . . is that affirmative?

Scott Carpenter

I am going to drifting flight at this time. Over.

Scott Carpenter

Gyros are caged. I have about a 2-degree-per-second yaw rate. All gyros are zero. I have Corvus directly above me. I'm yawing over the top. I feel that my attitude is—the line of sight is nearly—nearly vertical.

Scott Carpenter

I am in VOX record only now. The time is 01 04 00 elapsed. I'm searching the star charts.

Scott Carpenter

The finish on the star chart is so shiny that—it's impossible to read because of reflection.

Scott Carpenter

I've got to turn white lights on, that's all.

Scott Carpenter

Attitudes are of no concern to me whatsoever. I know I'm drifting freely. The moon crossed the window not too long ago.

Scott Carpenter

Let's see, now what can—I am at this moment rocking my arms back and forth and I can make this show up in the roll, yaw, and pitch needle. By moving my torso, I can make the pitch rate needle move up to 1 degree per second. Roll is, needle, rate needle is very sensitive to this. Yaw is also. Let's see, am going to open the visor at this time. Have a few crumbs of food floating around in the capsule.

Scott Carpenter

At 01 06 106—-at 1 minute, 1 hour and 7 minutes elapsed, I'm going above the scale to approximately 8 on cabin and suit.

Scott Carpenter

Hello, hello, Canton Com Tech, Canton Com Tech, Aurora Seven. Weak but readable. Go ahead.

Comm Tech

Aurora Seven, Aurora Seven. This is Canton Com Tech, Canton Com Tech. Do you read? Over.

Scott Carpenter

Hello, Canton Com Tech, Aurora Seven. Loud and clear. How me?

Scott Carpenter

The food—hello, Canton Com Tech, Aurora Seven. How do you read?

Scott Carpenter

Hello, Canton Com Tech, Aurora Seven. How do you read?

Scott Carpenter

This food has crumbled badly.