Mercury Project, see Project Mercury
“Mercury Seven,” 2-4, 16-39, 119
as CCGGSSS, 2
control system debate of, 20
defense contractors visited by, 19
jobs divided up by, 20-23
Mercury spacecraft:
backup systems in, 25-26
Ham’s problems in, 27-28
window in, 45-46
Mercury stamp, 19
meteorites, 125-26
Mexico, undersea treasure hunting in, 185-90
MIG-15s, 80
Minot Air Force Base, 192
Miramar Naval Air Station, 87
Mission Control Center, 114, 116, 121, 125, 128
Moon landing, 109, 263
Apollo program and, 72, 119, 158, 162, 169-73, 179
JFK and, 30, 71, 121, 152-53, 159, 162, 173
national debate about, 166-67
Moonport, 158, 159
Morgan, J. P, 235
movies, 3-D, 212-13
Muchea Tracking Station, 75-76
Multiple Wave Oscillator, 258-59
N-l rockets, 172
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), 1-6, 129, 131, 134, 152, 155-59, 263
astronaut-pilot qualifications of, 9-10, 15-16
Congressional opposition and, 174-76
Cooper’s departure from, 182, 183, 202
F-102s loaned to, 24-25
flight schedule advanced by, 35-36
House investigation of, 24
innovations of, 19
JFK’s prediction of Moon landing and, 30, 121
Marshall Space Flight Center of, 147-48
public relations of, 5, 34, 71
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) (cont.) space shuttle transmission and, 230-32, 262
UFOs and, 78-79
Washington headquarters of, 10-12
National Space Institute, 159-60
Naval Academy Prep School, 102
navigation, 98, 190
in space, 51, 57, 127, 128, 190
Navy, U.S., 12, 35, 67, 129, 179, 243
first U.S. satellite launching attempted by, 8-9
pressure suit of, 21
Nazi Germany, 150-51
NBC radio, 75, 76
Neal, Roy, 264-65
Nelson, George, 202-4
Neubiberg Air Force Base, 80-81
neutrinos, 258
New Republic, 69
news media:
Grissom’s treatment from, 31-33
“Mercury Seven” introduced to, 16-18
Newsweek, 90
New York City, German bombing planned for, 154
New York Times, 32
Nikolayev, Andrian G., 70
Noonan, Fred, 98
North American, 122-23
North American Aerospace
Defense Command (NORAD), 191, 192
Nuclear Nerva, 175
Oberth, Hermann, 149, 155
Olmec, 188-90
oxygen consumption, 50, 53, 59
oxygen pressure, in Gemini 5, 120-21, 123
Packard, David, 78
Panama, 109-13
parades, 70, 71-72
Paynter, Bill, 193
Peace-in-Space Treaty, 162-63
Peenemunde rocket team, 150-55
Peking Peggy, 124
personality inventory, 12
photography:
confiscation of, 130-32
from space, 48-49, 51, 124, 125, 129-32, 254, 255
UFOs and, 82-86, 90
physical examinations, 12-13
physiological stress tests, 13-14
Point Concepcion, Calif., UFO sighting in, 86
Post, Wiley, 99-100
prayer, space, 68-69
Presidential Honor Guard, 102
pressure suits, 5, 14, 21, 25, 42, 99
last minute alteration of, 37, 39
Soviet, 136
temperature inside, 46, 53, 59
Project Adam, 158
Project Blue Book, 85-90, 194-96
Project Mercury, 2-6, 10-39, 41-53, 55-72, 153
Atlas tested for, 2-3
closing of, 72-73
coming-out party of, 16-18
first orbital mission in, 33-34
flight plans for, 3-4, 34, 45, 63
flying neglected in, 24, 27
Gemini compared with, 109, 116, 120, 124, 125, 128, 138
goals of, 10, 34, 36-37, 72
and launch pad emergencies, 117-18
manned suborbital flights in, 28-33, 45
naming of, 10
one-day flight of, 36-39, 41-53
second orbital flight of, 34-35
selecting of participants for, 10-16
selecting of prime pilot for, 26-27
training for, 23-24, 26, 42-43, 44, 55-56, 107
what-if factor in, 25-26
see also “Mercury Seven”;Mercury spacecraft
Proxmire, William, 174-76
psychological tests, 12
Puharich, Andrija, 219-22, 236, 244
radar, 120, 124, 125, 238
radio, 75, 76, 234-35, 240, 241
Ramey, Roger, 83
Randall, Bo, 111
Ransone, Valerie, 214-22, 224-25, 227-32, 247-48, 254-55, 259-62
first “contact experience” of, 217-18
Tesla technology and, 234-41
Rathmann, Jim, 105, 106
Reagan, Ronald, 193
recovery teams, recovery, 21, 32, 34, 56, 128-29
in Soviet Union, 137-39
Redstone rockets, 3, 9, 22-23, 28, 153
Regan Airport, 94, 96, 97
religion:
“Mercury Seven” on, 18
science and, 69-70
remote viewing, 220, 237
retro rockets, 56-60, 117, 138
Riedel, Walther, 155
Right Stuff, The (movie), 33
rocket boosters, 22-23
see also Atlas rockets Rockwell, 123
Rogers, Will, 99-100
Romero, Pablo Bush, 188
Roswell Air Force Base, 83
Roswell Daily Record, 83
“Roswell incident” (1947), 83-84
rudder pedals debate, 20
Sabotage Alert Team, 192
Sanford, John, 87
satellites, 8-9, 47
Saturn I, 158
Saturn V, 159, 170, 172, 175-76, 265
Scheer, Julian, 65, 134
Schirra, Walter M., Jr. (Wally), 2-4, 6, 17, 20,21-22, 33, 67, 76
in Apollo 7, 171
Cooper’s competition with, 61, 63
crew assignments and, 181-82
Faith 7 and, 42, 43
in Gemini mission, 119, 182
Sigma 7
flight of, 35-36, 65
smoking of, 50
Schweickart, Russell, 172
Scott, David, 172
Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI), 78-79, 223
See, Elliot, 177-78
Senate, U.S., 114
Space Committee of, 72
Shepard, Alan B., Jr., 2-4, 12, 17, 21,67,119
as CapCom, 49, 50
in first U.S. manned launch, 28-30, 32, 38, 117, 152, 179
flight crew assignments and, 176-82
as prime pilot, 27-30
return to space sought by, 38, 176, 180, 181
Shuttle Operations, 178
Sigma 7, 35-36, 65
16th International Astronautical Congress, 134
Skylab, 178
Cooper’s speech and, 66-68
at Edwards Air Force Base, 7-8, 22
flight crew assignments and, 176-82
grounding of, 34-35, 119, 176
Slayton, Donald K. (Deke) (cont.) in Project Mercury, 2-4, 15, 17, 20, 22, 34-35, 38, 66-68, 73
sleep period, 48, 49-50, 65
smoking, 50
solder balls, errant, 19
Sonoma, Calif., UFO sighting in, 86-87
South Africa, flashing lights in, 47
Southern Pacific Land Company, 201
Soviet Union, 4, 37, 70, 110, 250
ELF and, 243, 245-46
German scientists and, 151-52, 153
space losses of, 136
Sputnik launched by, 8, 9, 152
U-2 shot down over, 132
U.S. competition with, 5, 8, 19, 28, 81, 113, 133, 135, 152, 153, 156, 157, 158, 162, 171, 172
U.S. truce with, 133-40
“Woodpecker” signals of, 242
Soyuz, 139, 172, 181
space kids, 219-22, 236, 237
space program, U.S.:
depersonalizing of, 113-15, 118
long delay in, 166-68
water launch in, 114
space shuttle, 116, 227-32, 237, 262
space stations, 48, 263-64
space walk, see extra-vehicular activity
Spain, 185, 186
Spence, Robert, 91
Sputnik, launching of, 8, 9, 152
Stafford, Thomas, 172, 178, 181
Stargate, 220
Star Wars, 246
State Department, U.S., 80, 133
Strategic Air Command, 191
Supreme Court, U.S., 240
T-6s, 103-4
T-38s, accidents of, 177-78
telepathy, 218-23, 227-30, 236, 237, 251-52
television, space program and, 4, 8-9, 36
temperature inversions, 87-88
Tesla, Nikola, 233-43, 245, 246, 257-58
Tesla tower, 235, 237, 240
test pilots, 4, 10
at Edwards Air Force Base, 7-8, 11, 14, 22, 100
