To purchase Mercury products see our Products Page.

Mercury Information

This is a overview of the first mission of NASA, the Mercury Project. There are many in-depth pages on the internet that pertains to the Mercury Project data. One of the most comprehensive is the wiki page at
http://www.mercuryspacecraft.com/wiki/Main_Page.

Mercury Mission Goal

The basic Mercury Project goal was to determine if it was possible for a human to survive and function in space.

Vehicles

The space capsules were built by McDonnell Aircraft Co. Twenty capsules and a number of boilerplates were ordered by NASA. The first booster for the Mercury Project was a modified US military Jupiter-C missile named Redstone. The modifications included lengthening and strengthening the Jupiter-C to support the 4000lbs+ weight of the Mercury capsule and escape tower. Total height of the Redstone and Mercury capsule including the escape tower was 83.38'. This was 13.48' longer than the original Jupiter-C missile, which stood at 69.90' when equipped with a warhead. The second booster for Project Mercury was the Atlas D rocket which was powerful enough to launch the capsule into Earth's orbit.

Astronauts

Out of 508 test pilots in the Marines, Navy and Air Force, 110 were chosen and invited to perform screening tests for Project Mercury. Sixty nine reported to Washington, D.C. in February 1959 to take part in the testing. Thirty two of those were invited to perform more tests in Ohio and New Mexico. On April 9, 1959 seven astronauts were chosen and accepted to be Project Mercury astronauts.

Lieutenant Malcolm S. (Scott) Carpenter (U.S. Navy)
Captain Leroy G. (Gordon) Cooper (U.S. Air Force)
Lieutenant Colonel John H. Glenn (U.S. Marine Corps)
Captain Virgil I. (Gus) Grissom (U.S. Air Force)
Lieutenant Commander Walter M. Schirra (U.S. Navy)
Lieutenant Commander Alan Shepard (U.S. Navy)
Captain Donald K. (Deke) Slayton (U.S. Air Force)

Mercury Flights

The Mercury-Redstone program was originally scheduled for eight manned flight tests. But due to the success of the first six, the last two were canceled. The time frame from first flight to last flight was only nine months (November 21 1960 to July 21 1961). These missions were launched from Cape Canaveral (now Cape Kennedy) Florida.

MR-1 Mission
November 21 1960
Booster MR 1 and spacecraft #2.
This unmanned mission's objective was to qualify the spacecraft-launch procedures and to obtain Mach 6.0 during powered boost. The booster ignited and rose 3.8" off the pad before the engines were shutdown due to a "sneak circuit" through the control plug and ground network.
MR-1A Mission
December 19 1960
Booster MR 3 and spacecraft #2.
After fixing the cause of the premature engine shutoff for the first MR-1 mission, this "second try" obtained the mission objectives.
MR-2 Mission
January 31 1961
Booster MR 2 and spacecraft #5.
For this mission Ham, a 37lbs chimpanzee was the pilot. This mission tested the capsule's life support system and carried the first primate into space. A malfunction of the chamber pressure controller caused the engine to operate at a higher thrust level than expected. The capsule was programmed to fly 114 miles high and 291 miles down range. Due to this malfunction the capsule flew 32 miles higher and 124 miles farther down range than expected and experienced re-entry forces up to 15 g's. Ham performed his tasks and survived in excellent condition.
MR-BD (Booster Development) Mission
March 24 1961
Booster MR 3 and a boilerplate spacecraft.
This fourth mission evaluated changes made in the booster after the MR-2 flight.
MR-3 Mission (Freedom 7)
May 5 1961
Booster MR 7 and spacecraft #7
This was the first manned flight. Astronaut Alan B. Shepard performed a flawless mission and became the first American in space. His flight lasted about 15 minutes with 5 minutes of weightlessness. The spacecraft obtained a maximum height of 115 miles and flew 302 miles down range.
MR-4 Mission (Liberty Bell 7)
July 4 1961
Booster MR 7 and spacecraft #11
This was the second manned flight. Astronaut Virgil I. "Gus" Grissom flew an almost exact mission as the preceding one. He had 5 minutes of weightlessness and sustained 11 g's at re-entry. After splash down, the side escape hatch blew open allowing water to enter the capsule. Gus climbed out of the spacecraft and was rescued by helicopter. But the water filled spacecraft was too heavy for the rescue helicopter to lift and was lost to sea for over 30 years. Liberty Bell was recovered in September 2000 and restored by the Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Center.
MA-6 Mission (Friendship 7)
February 20 1962
Atlas Booster and spacecraft #13
This was the first manned orbital flight for the United States. Astronaut John Glen played catch up to the Russians who had orbited cosmonaut Gherman Titov in August 6, 1961. Glen orbited the Earth three times at an max altitude of 162 miles. Going over 17,500 mph it only took about 90 minutes to circle the Earth. His flight lasted just under 5 hours.
MA-7 Mission (Aurora 7)
May 24, 1962
Atlas Booster and spacecraft #16
Astronaut Scott Carpenter again orbited the Earth 3 times while executing scientific experiments of outer space. He ran out of fuel while trying to deploy a scientific balloon and had to perform a non standard re-entry which caused him to land 300 miles off target.
MA-8 Mission (Sigma 7)
October 3, 1962
Atlas Booster and spacecraft #18
Astronaut Walter "Wally" Schirra became the third American to orbit the Earth. He flew for 9 hours and 13 minutes and completed 6 orbits.
MA-9 Mission (Faith 7)
May 5, 1963
Atlas Booster and spacecraft #20
Astronaut Gordon "Gordo" Cooper spent 34 hours and 19 minutes in space while completing 22.5 orbits. He was the first person to sleep in space and the last person to go into space alone.

This ended the successful Mercury Project. And paved the way for the following Gemini and Apollo Projects.


Home Products Mercury Photos Links Contacts
Home Products Mercury Photos Links Contacts	To purchase Mercury products see our Products Page. Mercury Information This is a overview of the first mission of NASA, the Mercury Project. There are many in-depth pages on the internet that pertains to the Mercury Project data. One of the most comprehensive is the wiki page at http://www.mercuryspacecraft.com/wiki/Main_Page. Mercury Mission Goal The basic Mercury Project goal was to determine if it was possible for a human to survive and function in space. Vehicles The space capsules were built by McDonnell Aircraft Co. Twenty capsules and a number of boilerplates were ordered by NASA. The first booster for the Mercury Project was a modified US military Jupiter-C missile named Redstone. The modifications included lengthening and strengthening the Jupiter-C to support the 4000lbs+ weight of the Mercury capsule and escape tower. Total height of the Redstone and Mercury capsule including the escape tower was 83.38'. This was 13.48' longer than the original Jupiter-C missile, which stood at 69.90' when equipped with a warhead. The second booster for Project Mercury was the Atlas D rocket which was powerful enough to launch the capsule into Earth's orbit. Astronauts Out of 508 test pilots in the Marines, Navy and Air Force, 110 were chosen and invited to perform screening tests for Project Mercury. Sixty nine reported to Washington, D.C. in February 1959 to take part in the testing. Thirty two of those were invited to perform more tests in Ohio and New Mexico. On April 9, 1959 seven astronauts were chosen and accepted to be Project Mercury astronauts. Lieutenant Malcolm S. (Scott) Carpenter (U.S. Navy) Captain Leroy G. (Gordon) Cooper (U.S. Air Force) Lieutenant Colonel John H. Glenn (U.S. Marine Corps) Captain Virgil I. (Gus) Grissom (U.S. Air Force) Lieutenant Commander Walter M. Schirra (U.S. Navy) Lieutenant Commander Alan Shepard (U.S. Navy) Captain Donald K. (Deke) Slayton (U.S. Air Force) Mercury Flights The Mercury-Redstone program was originally scheduled for eight manned flight tests. But due to the success of the first six, the last two were canceled. The time frame from first flight to last flight was only nine months (November 21 1960 to July 21 1961). These missions were launched from Cape Canaveral (now Cape Kennedy) Florida. MR-1 Mission November 21 1960 Booster MR 1 and spacecraft #2. This unmanned mission's objective was to qualify the spacecraft-launch procedures and to obtain Mach 6.0 during powered boost. The booster ignited and rose 3.8" off the pad before the engines were shutdown due to a "sneak circuit" through the control plug and ground network. MR-1A Mission December 19 1960 Booster MR 3 and spacecraft #2. After fixing the cause of the premature engine shutoff for the first MR-1 mission, this "second try" obtained the mission objectives. MR-2 Mission January 31 1961 Booster MR 2 and spacecraft #5. For this mission Ham, a 37lbs chimpanzee was the pilot. This mission tested the capsule's life support system and carried the first primate into space. A malfunction of the chamber pressure controller caused the engine to operate at a higher thrust level than expected. The capsule was programmed to fly 114 miles high and 291 miles down range. Due to this malfunction the capsule flew 32 miles higher and 124 miles farther down range than expected and experienced re-entry forces up to 15 g's. Ham performed his tasks and survived in excellent condition. MR-BD (Booster Development) Mission March 24 1961 Booster MR 3 and a boilerplate spacecraft. This fourth mission evaluated changes made in the booster after the MR-2 flight. MR-3 Mission (Freedom 7) May 5 1961 Booster MR 7 and spacecraft #7 This was the first manned flight. Astronaut Alan B. Shepard performed a flawless mission and became the first American in space. His flight lasted about 15 minutes with 5 minutes of weightlessness. The spacecraft obtained a maximum height of 115 miles and flew 302 miles down range. MR-4 Mission (Liberty Bell 7) July 4 1961 Booster MR 7 and spacecraft #11 This was the second manned flight. Astronaut Virgil I. "Gus" Grissom flew an almost exact mission as the preceding one. He had 5 minutes of weightlessness and sustained 11 g's at re-entry. After splash down, the side escape hatch blew open allowing water to enter the capsule. Gus climbed out of the spacecraft and was rescued by helicopter. But the water filled spacecraft was too heavy for the rescue helicopter to lift and was lost to sea for over 30 years. Liberty Bell was recovered in September 2000 and restored by the Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Center. MA-6 Mission (Friendship 7) February 20 1962 Atlas Booster and spacecraft #13 This was the first manned orbital flight for the United States. Astronaut John Glen played catch up to the Russians who had orbited cosmonaut Gherman Titov in August 6, 1961. Glen orbited the Earth three times at an max altitude of 162 miles. Going over 17,500 mph it only took about 90 minutes to circle the Earth. His flight lasted just under 5 hours. MA-7 Mission (Aurora 7) May 24, 1962 Atlas Booster and spacecraft #16 Astronaut Scott Carpenter again orbited the Earth 3 times while executing scientific experiments of outer space. He ran out of fuel while trying to deploy a scientific balloon and had to perform a non standard re-entry which caused him to land 300 miles off target. MA-8 Mission (Sigma 7) October 3, 1962 Atlas Booster and spacecraft #18 Astronaut Walter "Wally" Schirra became the third American to orbit the Earth. He flew for 9 hours and 13 minutes and completed 6 orbits. MA-9 Mission (Faith 7) May 5, 1963 Atlas Booster and spacecraft #20 Astronaut Gordon "Gordo" Cooper spent 34 hours and 19 minutes in space while completing 22.5 orbits. He was the first person to sleep in space and the last person to go into space alone. This ended the successful Mercury Project. And paved the way for the following Gemini and Apollo Projects.
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