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Detail of the forward end of the recovery compartment.

The lower, empty half would have held the main and reserve parachutes. Each was wedge shaped and the parachutes were separated by a fiberglass divider. The SOFAR bomb (whose detonation at 3,500 feet underwater would help recovery forces obtain a position fix on the spacecraft) was ejected upon main chute deployment. After landing, the reserve chute would be ejected and with it a dye marker which dissolves in water and produces a highly-visible yellow-green patch in the water (visible from an airplane at 10,000 feet high at a distance of 10 miles).

The triangular fixture in the upper left quadrant is related to the high frequency whip antenna.