NASA PROJECT MERCURY POST FLIGHT SPACE CAPSULE RECOVERY PROCEDURES 61934

Video from the channel PeriscopeFilm about Project Mercury, linked on its Above Ten Thousand entry. Duration: 21:39. Language: English. Video type: Archive footage.

NASA instructional film for Project Mercury recovery teams, made up of Department of Defense and NASA personnel. It illustrates the procedures from the Mercury spacecraft recovery manual and starts with the precautions. The area in front of the hatch is dangerous because it is jettisoned by an explosive charge: without the retaining springs it can fly off 25 feet and rise 6 feet. There is also risk from the reserve parachute mortar, hot gas areas, the whip antenna and the flight control thrusters, which can release hydrogen peroxide.

At sea, helicopters drop swimmers who fit a double flotation collar with a cable harness, inflated with CO2, which raises the spacecraft between six and eight inches, plus a strap over the hatch and an emergency flotation bag. There are three ways to get the astronaut out. The main one is to blow the hatch in the water and lift him to the helicopter with a horse collar. Another is to exit through the top by removing the parachute container. The third is to stay inside until the ship hoists the capsule with a shepherd's hook. If nothing works, the hatch is removed by hand by taking out shingles and bolts (62 bolts after the corner ones) and treated as Class C explosive.

The film was produced during the Mercury program and intersperses launches with sea drills, from helicopters and on the deck of the recovery ship.

It also explains extended flotation: the heat shield hangs beneath a raft, and the collar pressure is maintained with a hand pump. Next come securing the spacecraft (squib switch, reaction control system purge, pins, gyros, ammeter and batteries), data logging, and a fresh-water rinse. It closes with the equipment that can be removed for immediate transfer, such as the 16mm camera.