Project Mercury

Project Mercury was the United States's first successful manned spaceflight program. It ran from 1959 through 1963 with the goal of putting a man in orbit around the Earth. Early planning and research was carried out by NACA, while the program was officially carried out by the newly created NASA. The name Mercury comes from the Roman god (it is also the name of the innermost planet of the solar system).

Flights

The program included 20 robotic launches. Not all of these were intended to reach space and not all were successful in completing their objectives. The fifth flight in 1959 launched a monkey named Sam (a rhesus monkey named after the Air Force School of Aviation Medicine) into space. Other non-human space-farers were Miss Sam (a rhesus monkey), Ham and Enos, both chimpanzees.

Related Topics:
Ham - Chimpanzee

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The Mercury program used the following launch vehicles:

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• Little Joe - Suborbital, robotic, and primate flights. Launch escape system tests
• Redstone - Suborbital robotic, primate and piloted orbital flights.
• Atlas - Suborbital robotic, robotic, primate, and piloted orbital flights.

Robotic

• Mercury-Jupiter - Cancelled in July, 1959 - Proposed suborbital launch vehicle for Mercury. Not flown.
• Little Joe 1 - August 21, 1959 - test of launch escape system during flight
• Big Joe 1 - September 9, 1959 - test of heat shield and Atlas / spacecraft interface
• Little Joe 6 - October 4, 1959 - Test of capsule aerodynamics and integrity
• Little Joe 1A - November 4, 1959 - test of launch escape system during flight
• Little Joe 2 - December 4, 1959 - carried Sam the monkey to 85 kilometres in altitude
• Little Joe 1B - January 21, 1960 - carried Miss Sam the monkey to 9.3 statute miles (15 kilometres) in altitude
• Beach Abort - May 9, 1960 - test of the Off-The-Pad abort system
• Mercury-Atlas 1 - July 29, 1960 - first flight of Mercury spacecraft and Atlas Booster
• Little Joe 5 - November 8, 1960 - first flight of a production Mercury spacecraft
• Mercury-Redstone 1 - November 21, 1960 - Launched 4 inches (100 mm). Settled back on pad due to electrical malfunction
• Mercury-Redstone 1A - December 19, 1960 - first flight of Mercury spacecraft and Redstone booster
• Mercury-Redstone 2 - January 31, 1961 - carried Ham the Chimpanzee on suborbital flight
• Mercury-Atlas 2 - February 21, 1961 - test of Mercury spacecraft and Atlas Booster
• Little Joe 5A - March 18, 1961 - test of the launch escape system during the most severe conditions of a launch
• Mercury-Redstone BD - March 24, 1961 - Redstone Booster Development - test flight
• Mercury-Atlas 3 - April 25, 1961 - test of Mercury spacecraft and Atlas Booster
• Little Joe 5B - April 28, 1961 - test of the launch escape system during the most severe conditions of a launch
• Mercury-Atlas 4 - September 13, 1961 - test of Mercury spacecraft and Atlas Booster
• Mercury-Scout 1 - November 1, 1961 - test of Mercury tracking network
• Mercury-Atlas 5 - November 29, 1961 - carried Enos the Chimpanzee on a two orbit flight

Primate flights

• Little Joe 2 - December 4, 1959 - carried Sam the monkey to 85 kilometres in altitude
• Little Joe 1B - January 21, 1960 - carried Miss Sam the monkey to 9.3 statute miles (15 kilometres) in altitude
• Mercury-Redstone 2 - January 31, 1961 - carried Ham the Chimpanzee on suborbital flight
• Mercury-Atlas 5 - November 29, 1961 - carried Enos the Chimpanzee on a two orbit flight

Piloted

Suborbital

• Mercury-Redstone 3 (Freedom 7) - 5 May 1961 - Alan Shepard
• Mercury-Redstone 4 (Liberty Bell 7) - 21 July 1961 - Gus Grissom

Orbital

• Mercury Atlas 6 (Friendship 7) - 20 February 1962 - John Glenn
• Mercury-Atlas 7 (Aurora 7) - 24 May 1962 - Scott Carpenter (replaced Deke Slayton)
• Mercury-Atlas 8 (Sigma 7) - 3 October 1962 - Wally Schirra
• Mercury-Atlas 9 (Faith 7) - 15 May 1963 - Gordon Cooper
• Mercury-Atlas 10 (Freedom 7-II) - October 1963 - Cancelled June 13, 1963

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