Two Project Mercury Questions

[KaiYeves]

Okay, so this is going to sound very strange, but the next arc of my Into the Cosmos story is going to feature a fictional superheroine active in the 1960s, and I need some information about the Mercury Program.

1) Other than Aurora 7's landing off-course and Liberty Bell 7's sinking, what are some accidents/incidents in which our heroine could have helped to save the day? (Also, anywhere I could get more info on LB7 would be appreciated.)

2) How much detail did the media include in their accounts of the astronauts' training? (I.E., would somebody who just read what was in the newspapers know what the MASTIF was, or the Dilbert Dunker?) What details would only somebody who had also undergone the training know?

[01101001]

1) Other than Aurora 7's landing off-course and Liberty Bell 7's sinking, what are some accidents/incidents in which our heroine could have helped to save the day?

Shepard's wet back. Gave Freedom 7 a new meaning.

"Tell 'em to turn the power off!" Alan snapped. Cooper, with a chuckle in his voice said, "Okay, Alan. Power's off. Go to it."

Maybe not.

[PraedSt]

This is one of my favourites. You've probably read it already, but in case you haven't: This New Ocean.

[slang]

1) Other than Aurora 7's landing off-course and Liberty Bell 7's sinking, what are some accidents/incidents in which our heroine could have helped to save the day?

That depends also on what type of heroin, is it a super-powerful alien, or just someone in flight ops having the right idea at the right time? Member of public calling NASA saying "hey, try this!"?

[KaiYeves]

The character has powers of gravity control, and can levitate themselves and others, but doesn't do very well with objects heavier than people.

[slang]

I'm sorry to not be able to add any ideas for your story, but I feel the need to point out: "Posts: 8,888". Nice, Kai. Obliterate me for numerology now

[KaiYeves]

How did I miss that? Eight is my favorite number!

[PraedSt]

Any ideas yet?

You could just...make it up, you know.

[KaiYeves]

The world of the story is supposed to be as much like the real world as possible, minus the existence of superheroes.

[PraedSt]

Artistic license. Use it!

Your accident/incident could, for example, involve one or two of the astronauts. Your heroine saves the day. But if word got out, they'd be bumped off flight status, so she helps them again and tells no-one.

[KaiYeves]

Hmmm, I could use that...

[antoniseb]

Other events: John Glenn had an exciting time because they thought his heat-shield had detached, so he re-entered with the retro-boosters still attached.

Concerning public awareness of MASTIF etc. Life Magazine and National Geographic both covered astronaut training very colorfully, and these things were public knowledge.

As to something the public wouldn't know... I don't know. Ask Jay Utah.

[Jeff Root]

slang,

You have to be careful not to use 'heroin' when you mean to use 'heroine'.

Kai,

John Glenn's heat shield problem was certainly the most visible, because
everyone knew about it at the time and it took a few hours before we found
out whether he would survive re-entry. Gus Grissom was actually in more
danger from his capsule sinking, but that only lasted a few minutes. In both
cases, I'm not sure what a superhero could do that would make sense.
I'd suggest, though, that the reason the superhero's intervention was not
recorded in Life magazine is because the superhero made a convincing
argument that her existence needs to be kept secret. If everyone knew
about her powers, she would be in constant demand for her services, and
she'd never be able to get any rest. And those evil bad guys would try
to use her for nefarious purposes. But maybe your superheros are already
public, so this idea is too late.

-- Jeff, in Minneapolis

[kleindoofy]

It's not exactly from the Mercury project, but maybe the heroine could do something for Laika, the Russian dog of no return.

[KaiYeves]

John Glenn's heat shield problem was certainly the most visible, because
everyone knew about it at the time and it took a few hours before we found
out whether he would survive re-entry. Gus Grissom was actually in more
danger from his capsule sinking, but that only lasted a few minutes. In both
cases, I'm not sure what a superhero could do that would make sense.

The full sinking scenario is that the heroine flew in secretly to observe the splashdown and saw the hatch blow off. Because she had- in her civilian identity- trained as one of the Mercury 13, the heroine realized what would happen and used her levitation powers to hold the capsule up long enough for Grissom to escape. This caused a great strain (remember what I said before about not being able to hold up objects larger than people for very long), and she subsequently let it sink, before flying off and secretly changing back to her civilian identity. So all anybody would know would be that a masked hero saved Grissom before disappearing.

It's not exactly from the Mercury project, but maybe the heroine could do something for Laika, the Russian dog of no return.

Laika's fate in the Marvel Universe was already covered in a promotional game for the comic Agents of Atlas. It was very complicated, but the gist is that she got secretly saved and ended up on an uncharted island. (The full story is a LOT wackier, involving subconscious manipulation, mutation, and the Yellow Claw.)

[JustAFriend]

That depends also on what type of heroin, is it a super-powerful alien, or just someone in flight ops having the right idea at the right time? Member of public calling NASA saying "hey, try this!"?

Gee, I hope you meant HEROINE, not heroin!!!

Big difference!

[KaiYeves]

A lot of people make spelling mistakes on the Internet, JustAFriend.

[KaiYeves]

Of course, why didn't I think of it sooner- the "snap-back" of the hatch detonator!

[mugaliens]

I'm sorry to not be able to add any ideas for your story, but I feel the need to point out: "Posts: 8,888". Nice, Kai. Obliterate me for numerology now

Good grief, Kai! more than 14 posts a day??? That's pretty rocking!

[transreality]

I just reading about mercury 4; they had lot's of adventures. One issue of the early EVA attempts is that the first spacesuits expanded with pressure preventing the astronaut from getting back into the airlock. In the end they got lucky, but you can imagine the issues... maybe something a superhero could be called upon to fix?

[KaiYeves]

I think that was Gemini 4, not Mercury.

Oh, and what can I say, I talk too much.

[rebel]

The world of the story is supposed to be as much like the real world as possible, minus the existence of superheroes.

Describe "superhero", some people have adapted to different extremes and that by definition could make them a "superhero". Eskimo's have the ability to withstand the cold longer and warm up quicker. Heck.. watch Ripley's Believe It Or Not, some of the people on there have unique abilities as well. Just thought I'd let you know that depending on your definition, there just may be "real life superhero's" on Earth.

[ngc3314]

Used gravity control to prevent Gus Grissom from completely sinking? With all that water in the suit, it might have just barely kept him afloat until the helicopter grappled.

[Jeff Root]

I don't recall that I have expressed my personal theory here on BAUT of
why Liberty Bell 7's hatch blew.

I've never had any typing lessons. My typing technique is faster than
'hunt and peck', but not much faster, and not much better. I have to
look down at the keyboard frequently, and I might use any finger to
hit any key.

Once, some years ago, I was typing something on my computer, when
suddenly there was a small 'whump' sound and the TV/monitor went out,
startling me. The room lights didn't flicker and nothing else was affected.
The TV apparently had died. But I tried pushing the on/off button, and it
came back on, no problem. In trying to puzzle out what had just happened,
I recalled that I was just about to hit the 'Enter' key on the keyboard, or
maybe *did* hit the Enter key. I was pretty sure that I had been thinking
about it for a bit, deciding whether or not there was something else that
needed to go on that line before I hit 'Enter'. My finger had been poised
over the Enter key for a couple of seconds, when the TV went out.

The Enter key on that keyboard was rectangular, on the right side.

The on/off button on the TV was rectangular, on the right side.

I suspect that Gus Grissom was sitting in his capsule, thinking about the
different actions he might need to take -- one of which would be to eject
the hatch if he couldn't get through the top exit. He intended to press
some other button, just as I intended to hit the Enter key on my keyboard,
but instead he reached for the hatch eject button and pressed it, just as
I must have reached for the on/off button on the TV and turned the TV
off, thinking I was just pressing the Enter key.

-- Jeff, in Minneapolis

[KaiYeves]

Used gravity control to prevent Gus Grissom from completely sinking? With all that water in the suit, it might have just barely kept him afloat until the helicopter grappled.

Yes, that's the exact scenario I was using.

[transreality]

One thing is that someone else saving the day detracts from the efforts of the astronauts themselves, who look to have saved the day a few times themselves...

Shouldn't you have some sort of evil organisation operating in the shadows dedicated to plunging mankind into despair and chaos, that the superhero can then play off.

[KaiYeves]

I personally didn't see it as detracting. She's a NASA employee and helping the astronauts is her job and responsibility.

Besides,the acts the superhero does are few and rather minor. She's not flying into space for them or helping them out there, just leading the rescue helicopters to their location when they splash down out of the prime recovery area or letting them escape when their capsule sinks.