Project Mercury

By olivia.miller

  • Project Mercury was Born

    Project Mercury was Born
    On October 7, 1958, T. Keith Glennan, the first administator of NASA, approved the Mercury Project and Project Mercury . On December 17, 1958 he announced Project Mercury publicly. On December 29, 1958 North American Aviation got a contract to design and build Little Joe.

  • NASA

    Project Mercury, the United States' first manned space program, began on October 7, 1958, one year and three days after the Soviet Union launched Sputnik 1.

  • The Project Had Started

    The Project Had Started

  • Little Joe Failed Launch

    Little Joe Failed Launch
    On August 21, 1959, "Little Joe" the rocket was a failed launch. It was a solid fuel rocket that was designed to test the Mercury spacecraft Launch Escape and Recover systems. The rocket had an electrical leak and pulled the spacecraft away from the launch pad. It reached an apogee of 2,000 feet and landed 2,000 feet away. The flight lasted 20 seconds.

  • Ham The Chimp

    Ham The Chimp
    Ham (July 1956 – January 19, 1983), also known as Ham the Chimp and Ham the Astrochimp, was the first chimpanzee launched into outer space in the American space program. Ham's name is an acronym for the lab that prepared him for his historic mission — the Holloman Aerospace Medical Center, located at Holloman Air Force Base in New Mexico

  • FREEDOM 7

    FREEDOM 7
    On May 5, 1961, Alan B.Shepard was aboard the Freedom 7. This was the first successful American suborbital flight. This flight put the first American in space. It lasted 15 minutes and 28 seconds.

  • Enos

    Enos
    On November 29, 1961, a chimp named Enos orbited the earth on board Mercury Atlas 5.

  • FRIENDSHIP 7

    FRIENDSHIP 7
    On Feburary 20, 1962, John H. Glen was aboard the Friendship 7.This was the first American three-orbit flight. This flight placed the first American to orbit earth.

  • THE End of Project Mercury

  • FAITH 7

    FAITH 7
    On May 15, 1963, L. Gorden Cooper was aboard the Faith 7 . This flight lasted 34 hours, 19 minutes and 49 seconds. This was the first 1 day flight for America. This was the last Mercury mission. The Faith 7 completed 22 orbits to evaluate effects of 1 day in space. This flight was from May 15 to May 16.