Spacelog Mercury 6

This is Friendship Seven. That's a good question. I wish I knew, too. These errors have been off and on all during the flight. I have caged and recaged the gyros, caged and uncaged the gyros. I'm back in orbit attitude now but it is not, the attitude indicators are showing orbit attitude but it's not. By looking out at the horizon, I am about 20° right in roll and 20° too much on pitch down. I'm down to about probably 55° down in pitch by visual observation and about 20° right in roll. Yaw appears to be holding okay now. Over.

This is Friendship Seven, approaching sunset.

Friendship Seven, Friendship Seven, this is Zanzibar Com Tech transmitting on HF UHF. Please acknowledge on HF. Over.

This is Friendship Seven recording. A lot of dirt on the windows from the retrofire and lot of stuff on here looks like, ah, we might have smashed some bugs even on the way up off the pad. Looks like blood on the outside of the window, maybe. It makes it real, very difficult to observe anything when they get around on the sun side.

Friendship Seven. The sun is going down again now. Coming off automatic in yaw, and yawing a little bit to the left to observe it.

Mark, the sun is down.

And can see little or nothing of zodiacal light at the moment.

This is Friendship Seven, flying with yaw handle pulled. Controlling on manual yaw.

The way the horizon looks is a very orange band. Just as the sun goes down and extends way off either side, probably 45° each side of the sun, comes up into a lighter yellow, then a very deep blue, then a very light blue, on up to the black of the sky.

Once again I can see lightning flashing under me, very clearly.

Friendship Seven, Friendship Seven, this is Zanzibar Com Tech, transmitting on HF UHF. Please acknowledge on HF. Over.

Hello, Zanzibar Com Tech. Friendship Seven on HF. Do you receive me now. Over.

Friendship Seven, this is Zanzibar Cap Com reading you weak but garbled.

Roger. Understand reading me weak and garbled.

This is Friendship Seven. I took the capsule off of automatic in yaw only to go left to look at the sunset. It's back on automatic at present time in all three axes; I'm backing it up with manual. Over.

Roger, Friendship Seven, understand you're in automatic control in all three axes, backing up with manual. Is this affirmative. Over.

That is affirmative.

There's quite a big storm area under me. It must extend for, I see lightning flashes, as far, way off on the horizon to the right. I also have them almost directly under me here. They show up very brilliantly here on the dark side at night. They're just like firecrackers going off. Over.

Zanzibar, this is Friendship Seven. Did you get my fuels when I reported them? Over.

Repeat your last transmission. Over.

Roger. This is Friendship Seven. Fuel is 60-55 [percent], oxygen is 60-92 [percent], Amps are 22. Over.

This is Friendship Seven. All voltages are 25, or above. Over.

This is Friendship Seven at 3 plus 42. We should be just about over Johannesburg, I cannot see anything of southern Africa on this pass. Over.

Zanzibar Cap Com. Do you read? Over.

Roger, Zanzibar. I'm reading you weak but readable.

Zanzibar Cap Com, Friendship Seven on HF. Can see long streaky clouds down below as we, going off to my right up into sort of a general weather pattern. That's 3 plus 44.

This is Friendship Seven. An observation on control system operation: It appears that whenever I go off on manual, or fly-by-wire and maneuver for any lengthy period of time, that somehow we induce considerably, considerable errors into the gyro system. I come up with all kinds of attitudes. That time for instance, when I yawed around 180°, and held for a little while, and came back again, I had errors of 30° in roll, 35 [degrees] in yaw and plus 40 [degrees] in pitch.

This is Friendship Seven, going on manual pitch.

This is Friendship Seven. Several times I have felt that I had a partially stuck thruster or one that was just partly operating in pitch down and just then again I had a pitch up rate going and all at once I felt a down thrust and it pitched down on me. Again there, it repeated again that time, so I think I have a stuck pitch thruster occasionally.

Friendship Seven, Friendship Seven, this is Indian Com Tech. How do you read? Over.

Hello, Indian Com Tech, Friendship Seven. Over.

Friendship Seven, this is Indian Com Tech. I read you very weak, very weak, very garbled. Am turning over to Cap Com on UHF. Over.

Roger. Friendship Seven.

Friendship Seven, Friendship Seven, this is Indian Cap Com on UHF. Do you read? Over.

Roger, Indian Cap Com. I read you loud and clear. How me?

About 3 by 3. You're coming in stronger. Over.

Roger. Friendship Seven. Fuel is 60 45 [percent], oxygen is 60 92 [percent], amps 23. Over.

Say again your oxygen. Over.

Roger. Oxygen is 60-92 [percent]. Over.

Roger, understand.

Friendship Seven, this is Indian Cap Com. What is your control mode? Over.

This is Friendship Seven. I'm on ASCS but it is operating very erratically. I'm backing it up with manual at the present time. I'm trying to get it set up so it will be in a decent ASCS attitude for retrofire. Over.

Roger, understand.

This is Friendship Seven. I can control it manually. I'll back it up manually and take over if I need to. Over.

Roger, understand.

Friendship Seven, this is Indian Cap Com. I have your retrosequence times. Are you prepared to copy? Over.

This is Friendship Seven. Standby one.

Standing by.