Editor’s note: Museums and other institutions throughout North Carolina are gearing up to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Neil Armstrong’s first steps on the moon. The festivities kicked off over the weekend with the three-week engagement of “First Man,” screening at the Marbles IMAX Theater in Raleigh as well as a panel discussion about the role of training at the Morehead Planetarium at UNC. Here’s a look at North Carolina’s contributions.
RALEIGH – In 1963, as Faith 7, the final mission in the Mercury program with Gordon Cooper in command, neared its final orbit, the spacecraft suffered an electrical short which disabled its auto navigation system. Gordo was flying blind.
Richard McColman, Fulldome Theater Manager at the Morehead Planetarium and Science Center, at the First Man Space Panel. Photo by Renee Wright copyright Capital Broadcasting A.R.R.
“He had to set up the proper attitude and fire the retro rockets for reentry manually,” Richard McColman, manager of the theater at the Morehead Planetarium in Chapel Hill, said. Fortunately, Cooper knew which constellation should be outside his window at the moment the retro rockets should fire. “He drew that constellation on the window, and when it lined up with what he saw outside, he fired his retros. Most of the NASA engineers thought it would be impossible, but out of all the Mercury flights, Cooper made the most accurate landing.”
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Cooper was able to accomplish this feat thanks to the training in stellar navigation he received at UNC’s Morehead Planetarium. Between 1960 and 1975, 62 astronauts made the trip to Chapel Hill where they learned to recognize 37 different guide stars and navigate through space without the help of a computer. As Gordon Cooper’s experience proved, the training could be life saving.
“They learned the stars better than a lot of astronomers,” McColman said. “They had to recognize them from any orientation and from a window that only showed a small portion of sky.” To accomplish the training, the Planetarium devised a plywood capsule on a motorized platform. Old tin cans with slits cut in them were used to project the orbital lines. To replicate the yaw motion, the whole contraption was mounted on an old barber’s chair.
McColman spoke at the First Man Space Panel, held at the Marbles Kids Museum to announce Lift Off NC, a year-long celebration honoring the 50th anniversary of Neil Armstrong’s first steps on the Moon. Events will center on North Carolina’s space connections, including the 16-year-long astronaut training program at Morehead and the numerous NASA alumni that hale from the state.
Astronauts training in the mocked up capsule at Morehead Planetarium. Photo by Renee Wright of a slide at the First Man Space Panel. copyright Capital Broadcasting A.R.R.
“I think they chose Morehead because it was a world-class facility, maybe the world’s finest planetarium, set in a small Southern town,” Michael Neece, another of the panelists, said. “The astronauts, who were like rock stars back then, could sneak in and out without attracting a lot of attention.” Neece has been delving into the Morehead’s enormous archives to research a book based on the astronauts’ experiences there in the ’60s and ’70s.
Michael Neece, currently at work on a book about astronauts’ training in stellar navigation at the Morehead Planetarium in the 60s and 70s, speaking at the First Man Space Panel. Photo by Renee Wright copyright Capital Broadcasting A.R.R.
“Neil Armstrong came here 11 times and trained for 116 hours, more than anyone else,” he said. “He really liked Chapel Hill.”
Learn more about NC events celebrating the moon missions online.
