Glenn Undergoes Examination

Press, Volume CI, Issue 29734, 30 January 1962, Page 15

Glenn Undergoes Examination

(N.Z.P .A.-Reuter— Copyright) CAPE CANAVERAL (Florida), Jan. 29.

The American astronaut, LieutenantColonel John Glenn, began exhaustive tests today in preparation for his next attempt to orbit the earth, expected on Thursday morning. The chief psychologist for the Mercury man-in-space programme, Dr- Robert Voas, conducted an examination to make certain that the frustrating delays had not affected the normally cool Colonel Glenn.

Heavy clouds postponed the launching last Saturday after Colonel Glenn had spent many hours in the “Friendship 7” capsule awaiting the signal to take-off.

Data Prepared

Across the continent, al Goldstone, California, scientists prepared to feed data received from a Ranger spacecraft into a computer today to see whether something can be salvaged from television pictures it took of the moon yesterday. But they were not hopeful that their efforts would be able to “unmask” the signal and produce anything meaningful Ranger 111. launched from Cape Canaveral last Friday had been designed to hit the moor after sending back close-up television pictures taken on the way. But the Ranger missed the moon and headed into orbit around the sun instead.

It did manage to take pictures of the moon—from more than 20,000 miles away, but because of a mechanical failure, they were not received at the Goldstone tracking station except as so-called “videcom data” which are “meaningless.” The possibility of performing the unmasking operation —reducing the data and removing the noise accompanying it—was not a hopeful one. a spokesman said

“We don't have much confidence in it,*' he said. “It's rather like getting a weak transmission from a television set."

In Cape Canaveral, scient-

ists, technicians and engineers continued to go ahead with early pre-launch preparations. They checked in particular the entire electrioal system of the Mercury control centre. It was there last Saturday, during the count-down, that an electrical fault developed. The fault stopped for a few minutes the time-clock confusing the range safety officer who would, in the event of trouble immediately after launching, destroy the rocket and automatically eject Colonel Glenn in his space capsule to safety.