U.S. SPACEMAN SHOT SOON

Press, Volume C, Issue 29502, 2 May 1961, Page 13

U.S. SPACEMAN SHOT SOON

Final Preparations In Last 24 Hours (N.Z Press Association-Copyright/ (Rec. 10 p.m.) GAPE CANAVERAL, May 1. America is barely 24 hours away from its first attempt to put a man into space. Today, final preparations were being made for the shot, expected about 8 a.m. (noon G.M.T.) tomorrow, according to United Press International.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is, however, maintaining official silence on the exact date of the launching. At the week-end, waves of tourists, hordes of reporters and photographers packed into all the available accommodation within a radius of 20 miles of the launching site. Motels Crowded Harassed motel owners were forced to turn away hundreds of tourists who had arrived in hope of seeing the nation’s first astronaut carried into space by a Redstone rocket.

The identity of the astronaut was not expected to be announced until three hours before the launching It will be either Marine Lieutenant-Colonel John H Glenn, Air Force Captain Virgil Grissom, or Commander Alan B Shepard. The three men were reported to have been taken to a discreet building on the cape to undergo final medical examinations.

Three miles away an 83ft. 68-ton Redstone rocket is being made ready. A team of surgeons, headed by Lieutenant-Colonel W Douglas, stood by for intensive pre-launch tests. After the launching they will be ready to fly immediately to Grand Bahama Island where the astronaut is expected to be picked up The only thing that might put off the flight from Tuesday would be some failure in the complex equipment of the astronaut’s eabin. bad weather, either on the Cape or in the recovery area, according to U.P.I. If the shot goes according to plan, the capsule will

come down about 290 miles from the launching point and be picked from the sea by a helicopter. From ’Tift-off" to “splash” should take about 15 minutes. Television crews are making a special coverage of the launching and officials predict that 75 per cent, of all stations in the United States and many Canadian stations will show the programme.

Every motel in the area has special cable offices for press use.