Exploring the Unknown: Selected Documents in ... - The Black Vault

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First Steps into Space: Projects Mercury and Gemini
relative to capsule engineering, operational procedures, and pilot
performance. In these enclosures each answer by Captain Grissom is
preceded by the question proposed except for enclosure four. The
debriefing questionnaire used as a guide by the astronaut for this portion
of the debriefing is included as enclosure three.
2. The basic concept of the debriefing was to allow the pilot to freely discuss
the flight on board the recovery ship before entering into the direct
question and answer sessions held at Grand Bahama Island and Cape
Canaveral. An index was prepared which, it is hoped, will help direct the
various systems’ specialists to the information pertaining to their areas
of interest.
3. To take full advantage of the information gained form the MR-4 pilot
debriefing, it is suggested that a copy of this material be distributed to
each branch of the Manned Spacecraft Center. It is requested that all
comments on the debriefing be forwarded back to the Training Office.
MR-4 Technical Debriefing Team
[Signed]
Sigurd A. Sjoberg
Flight Operations Coordination
[Signed]
Robert B. Voas
Training Office
[Signed]
Helmut A. Kuehnel
Spacecraft Operations Branch
Enc: Debriefing
RGZ:srl
Copies to: All MSC Branches
[Debriefing: Only Paragraphs 11-13 provided]
11. Recovery – On landing, the capsule went pretty well under the water. Out the
window, I could see nothing but water and it was apparent to me that I was laying
pretty well over on my left side and little bit head down. I reached the rescue aids
switch and I heard the reserve chute jettison and I could see the canister in the
water through the periscope. Then, the capsule righted itself rather rapidly and it
was apparent to me that I was in real good shape, and I reported this. Then I got
ready to egress. I disconnected the helmet from the suit and put the neck dam up.
The neck dam maybe had been rolled up too long, because it didn’t unroll well.
It never did unroll fully. I was a little concerned about this in the water because
I was afraid I was shipping a lot of water through it. In fact, the suit was quite wet
inside, so I think I was. At this point, I thought I was in good shape. So, I decided