The Mercury Project is the very beginning of man traveling into space. It was this project that made the term” Astronaut” a household word. They came up with the word as a variation to the balloonist who were called Argonauts as they were sailing in the new uncharted oceans of air.
On April 9, 1959, NASA introduced the seven men that had been chosen as nominees for the first manned flight into space. The image of the astronauts may have been a little skewed with this introduction. Although all the men were in the military and had degrees, they were introduced in civilian clothes as typical American citizens. The names that became instant celebrities with the Mercury Project were Carpenter, Cooper, Glenn, Grissom, Schirra, Shepard and Slayton.
The goals of the Mercury Project were to orbit a manned spacecraft around Earth; recover both man and space craft safely; and to investigate man’s ability to function in space.
There were some interesting guidelines that were set for the spacecraft in the project.
~spacecraft must be fitted with reliable launch and escape systems to separate the spacecraft and crew safely from the launching vehicle in case of an emergency
~pilot has to have the capability of manual control
~spacecraft must have a retrorocket system to provide the necessary impulse to bring the spacecraft out of orbit
~zero-lift body utilizing drag braking to use for re-entry
~have everything necessary for a safe water landing
In a matter of a little under fiver years the Mercury Project accomplished all the goals it set out to reach. Two launch vehicles were used. The Redstone was used for the suborbital and an Atlas for the four orbital flights. Before any manned flights were accomplished there were unmanned flights and a chimpanzee enjoyed the ride as well. There were 25 flights total with the Mercury Project and six of them were manned flights.
Over all the Mercury Project was very successful. The team was able to establish that man could function as a pilot, experimenter, and an engineer all by himself.( Today we may call it multitasking.)The team established that for 34 hours in space and weightlessness bodily functions could be unaffected. The manned flights were all successful as far as safety issues.
Much progress was made in finding areas that needed some addition work. Recommendations were made about training issues and philosophies so future missions would be better prepared. The suggested more rigorous standing be taken on future projects as far as the training process. It was a good model for other NASA projects.
Sources:
www-pao.ksc.nasa.gov
www.nasa.gov
