Lot 353
Mercury Program, c1965, "Project Mercury Verlort LRT-2 and LRT-3 Radar System". Lot of three volumes as issued by Reeves Instrument Corp in 1960 (revised 1963) including volumes 1 and 2 (card covers) and Vol. 3 (hard cover) "Drawings and Diagrams" (Official copy#1/#3). There are literally hundreds of pages and foldouts in each volume. We don't claim to understand even the most rudimentary explanations in these volumes, but we have found the following explanation as described in the NASA "Results of the Second Manned Orbital Space Flight, May 24, 1962" handbook :
"Two principal types of precision tracking radars are used in the Mercury ground range to track the spacecraft: the AN/FPS-16 and Verlort radars. The AN/FPS-16, shown in figure 2-2, is a precision C-band tracking radar with a 12-foot dish. It operates on a frequency of 5,500 to 5,900 mc and has a beam width of approximately 1.2°. It is the most accurate of our tracking devices. The S-band, or Verlort, radar, shown in figure 2-3, is a very long-range tracking radar with a 10-foot dish. It operates on a frequency of 2,800 to 3,000 mc and has a beam width of approximately 2.5°. The redundancy provided by both of these radar systems supplies the computers with sufficient data to determine the orbit, should one of the spacecraft beacons fail."
Note that Vol 3 is hand-stamped as being "Copy 1" (the only copy) from the Muchea Tracking Station near Perth, Australia for the Mercury Program (dated 9 October 1963) and then again as being "Copy 3" from the Carnarvon Tracking Station for the Gemini and Apollo Program. This mobile radar tracking station had a range of 4,000 Km and was a big improvement over similar WW II radars.
We have been in this business for the past 20+ years and this is the first set of these Manuals we have encountered. If you are into original manuals, this lot is for you. All volumes show the usual wear, tear and aging and/or notations, but a great find.
Estimated Value $350 - 500.
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| Realized $264 |
