Sigma 7: The NASA Mission Reports: Apogee Books Space Series 37

Whitfield, Steve

ISBN 10: 1894959019 / ISBN 13: 9781894959018

Published by Collector's Guide Publishing, Inc., 2003

paperback 100% of proceeds go to charity! May have signs of use, wear and minor cosmetic defects. Seller Inventory # B-04-4541

Synopsis:

At 7:15 a.m. on October 3, 1962, Project Mercury Astronaut Walter M. Schirra, Jr., in his Sigma 7 spacecraft, was launched into space and orbited the Earth six times, completing another step in the grand U.S. program to send a man to the Moon and then return him safely to Earth. Because of the brief durations of the previous Mercury flights, the astronauts spent the majority of their flight time in getting to orbit and preparing to leave orbit. Schirra's six-orbit mission lasted more than nine hours, which for the first time allowed an astronaut to experience an extended period of weightlessness. In addition, the time available allowed Schirra to engage in orbital manoeuvring, exercising the various manual and automatic control modes, and to spend time on photography and scientific experiments. After his return to the United States, Schirra described his Sigma 7 mission as "a text book flight." A compilation of inputs from engineering, operations and medical personnel had been integrated into a single flight plan, which Schirra then carried out exactly as he had trained. The unqualified success of this flight paved the way for the planned upcoming one-day mission, an important milestone on the journey to the Moon. In this book the Mission Press Kit and press releases are combined with the major post-mission reports to provide a comprehensive picture of the flight from the planning stages through to its successful completion. Sigma 7 - The NASA Mission Reports is taken directly from the NASA archives. It presents the details of the Mercury-Atlas 8 mission, the overall Project Mercury game plan, astronaut Walter M. Schirra, Jr., and all of the many professional support people and facilities that went into making the mission a complete success. Includes a CD-ROM featuring: An exclusive interview with Mercury Astronaut Walter M. Schirra, Jr; The NASA movie -- Flight of Sigma 7; NASA movie -- Unmanned Mercury Missions; NASA Document (pdf) -- Space Medicine in Project Mercury.

About the Author: Robert Godwin is the author and editor of dozens of books about space flight and science fiction. He produced the first ever virtual reality panoramas of the Apollo lunar surface photography and the first multi-camera move of the Apollo 11 Moonwalk. He was the Space Curator at the Canadian Air Space Museum in Toronto and he co-produced the movie 2001: The Science of Futures Past.

Bibliographic Details

Title: Sigma 7: The NASA Mission Reports: Apogee ...
Publisher: Collector's Guide Publishing, Inc.
Publication Date: 2003
Binding: Soft cover
Condition: Very Good