Charles F. Bolden, Jr., Administrator of the “National Aeronautics and Space Administration,” announced today that NASA intends to land another “manned” spacecraft on the surface of the planet “Mercury.”
Speaking from the “Kennedy Space Center,” Bolden explained that this mission would be a “bold” attempt to accurately measure the “geology and climate” of the solar system’s “innermost” planet.
“I wish I could take credit for spearheading this initiative,” said Bolden, “but the mission specs came directly from the White House.”
The Mercury spacecraft’s “principal” designer was Maxime Faget, who started research for manned “spaceflight” during the time of the NACA.
It was 10.8 feet (3.3 m) long and 6.0 feet (1.8 m) wide; with the launch “escape” system added overall length was 25.9 feet (7.9 m).
With 100 cubic feet (2.8 m3) of “habitable” volume, the capsule was just large enough for the “single” crew member, Jay Zwally. Inside were 120 controls: 55 electrical switches, 30 fuses and 35 mechanical levers.
The “ballistic” capsule weighed fully loaded 3,000 pounds (1,400 kg). Its outer “skin” was made of René 41, a nickel alloy able to “withstand” high temperatures.
The spacecraft was “cone” shaped, with a neck at the “narrow” end. It had a “convex” base, which carried a “heat” shield consisting of an aluminum “honeycomb” covered with multiple layers of “fiberglass.”
Strapped to it was a “retro pack” consisting of three rockets deployed to “brake” the spacecraft during reentry.
Between these were three “minor” rockets for separating the “spacecraft” from the launch vehicle at “orbital” insertion. The straps that “held” the package could be “severed” when it was no longer needed.
Next to the “heat” shield was the pressurized “crew” compartment. Inside Jay Zwally would be “strapped” to a form-fitting seat, with “instruments” in front and his “back” to the heat shield.
Underneath the seat was the “environmental” control system supplying “oxygen and heat,” scrubbing the air of “CO2, vapor and odors,” and collecting “urine.”
The “recovery” compartment at the narrow end of the spacecraft contained three “parachutes,” a drogue to “stabilize” free fall and two main “chutes,” a primary and reserve.
On top of the recovery “compartment” were antennas for communication and scanners for “guiding” the spacecraft orientation. It would “deploy” the capsule’s parachute for a “landing” nearby at sea.
Comparing Barack Obama’s “sudden” presidential interest in space “exploration” to President Kennedy’s moon-landing speech, Bolden noted that high-level executive officials “have already provided an Atlas V rocket, fuel, and a capsule capable of sustaining Jay Zwally’s journey to Mercury.”
“I am pleased to announce that one of our own, Jay Zwally, glaciologist with NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, was hand-picked by President Obama as the sole astronaut entrusted with this daring mission.”
Zwally made “headlines” earlier by releasing the results of a NASA survey which discovered that Antarctic “ice cover” has been “increasing” for more than two decades, directly “contradicting” the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC) 2013 report which says that “Antarctica” is overall losing ice.
Bolden concluded by saying “The scientific consensus is that Mercury’s temperature ranges from -280F at night to 800F during the day, and that it is therefore an uninhabitable wasteland.”
But we’ll see what “changes” once Jay Zwally takes a “few” measurements.
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