Highways Into Space: A first-hand account of the beginnings of the human space program by Glynn S. Lunney Page A

The Texans really loved the space program. They loved the astronauts and the idea of a grand challenge to visit our nearest neighbor in the solar system. This was in stark contrast to our neighbors near Hampton, Virginia. Many of whom referred to NACA (the predecessor to NASA) people as “NACA-Nuts.” Our first impressions of local Texas support carried through a lifetime. We always felt most welcome and appreciated for what we brought to the State. Texas is home.
     
    MA-6 minus 3 months
    November 29, 1961 – The last precursor to a manned flight was the MA-5 flight of a Mercury spacecraft for a three-revolution mission carrying a chimp named Enos. It was only later as a Flight Director that I came to appreciate the situation the astronauts faced with the chimp flights. I should have been more empathetic. These guys came from a world of alpha males, fighter pilot squadrons and national test pilot schools for only the best in their profession. No room for chimps. And they heard the slurs from their fellow-jocks to their manhood when the description of space flight was “man-in-a-can,” or “chimps were the first.” I am sure they were happy to see the “long hairy line” of chimps at an end. The MA-5 launch was nominal and I got to see that beautiful radar tracking transformed on my plot board into the clear display of a “Go” orbit. Things settled down for a while on orbit but conditions in the spacecraft deteriorated. We all followed the changes in the first two orbits. Finally, because of elevated cabin temperature and excessive firing of the control engines, Chris Kraft ordered the mission terminated after two orbits. The MCC team concept was maturing and gaining confidence.
     
    December 1961 – The follow-on to the Mercury program was announced. It was named Gemini, a two-man spacecraft for the constellation of the twins. In my opinion, the Gemini program was the enabler of the rapid pace of the Apollo flights once we began the flight campaign in 1968. The design teams and the operations teams – planners, flight controllers and flight crews – profited immensely from the “boot camp” of ten manned Gemini flights to roar into Apollo with a competence and confidence that only “being there and doing it” can provide. The Gemini systems transitioned from analog to digital. We learned and tested rendezvous and docking under multiple conditions (prepping for the lunar rendezvous), docked propulsion maneuvers (as in the Apollo command ship CSM and the Lander LM), guidance controlled entries (as in Apollo re-entries), long durations up to two weeks (the longest expected Apollo flight) and the space walk technology and techniques. To a man, the flight controllers and crews would testify that Gemini made Apollo possible in the time allowed. The experience gained avoided the need for an excessively long series of flights before the landing on the fifth manned Apollo. Imagine how history might look if Apollo XIII (the seventh manned Apollo) happened before the landing mission and with an operations team with less experience.
     
    MA-6 arrives
    February 20, 1962 – After multiple scrubs and delays, MA-6 lifted off on this date in February. Tens of thousands of Americans worked for this day and each can treasure the achievement and their role as a reward that they will always own. During the flight, a situation developed that was enough to try any man’s fortitude. During the second orbit, an obscure telemetry signal was observed that indicated that the impact bag had deployed. It normally deploys in the landing sequence in order to cushion the landing in the water. The real significance was that the bag was behind the heat shield and this indication could mean that the heat shield was not firmly attached for re-entry. This was an extremely difficult decision to grapple with. If the signal was not valid, the best and safest approach was to proceed nominally and jettison the spent retro package after the firing