Mercury Program

Sources

Missions

Launch Site

Astronauts

Space Craft

Zach Will Pd. 3

AstronautsJohn Glenn – First American to orbit the earthAlan Shepard - First American to make a suborbital flight into space.Virgil Grissom - Second suborbital flight. Spacecraft sank before recovery when hatch unexpectedly blew off.There was a total of seven but these are the three that made historic firsts.NASA also used chimpanzees in the Mercury Program

Ham the chimp

Alan Shepard

Born November 18, 1923Went into space 2 timesWas a test pilot prior to being an astronautCommanded the Mercury 3 missionIn the Apollo program was involved in the third lunar landing

John Glenn

Born July 18, 1921Was the first American to orbit the earthCommanded the Mercury 6 missionWas the Ohio senator from 1974 – 1999Went into space for a second time at age 77 and still holds the record for oldest man in space

MissionsTotal of 29 missions

First twenty were unmannedThe last nine were manned and three were canceled

Most important MissionsMercury - Redstone 3 – Alan Shepard made the first suborbital flight for America May 5, 1961Mercury-Atlas 6 – John Glenn completed the first American orbit in space. February 20, 1962

SpacecraftRockets

Redstone – 83 ft.Rocket used in the beginning of the program

Atlas – 82 ft.Rocket used later in the program

Mercury CapsuleOne crew member

1.7 cubic feet of habitable volume

Over 120 controlsEscape system in event of rocket failure

Launch Site

Kennedy Space CenterCape Canaveral, Florida

Has been the main launch site since 1968Opened early in 1961Replaced a launch site in AlabamaIs now a popular tourist destination

Rocket Launch Video

Sources

Mercury Program. Web. 24 Feb. 2010. <http://www-pao.ksc.nasa.gov/history/mercury/mercury.htm>.NASA - Home. Web. 23 Feb. 2010.

<http://www.nasa.gov/>.Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Web. 23 Feb. 2010. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ma

in_Page>.