Six days after the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) was created on October 1, 1958, The Mercury Program came into being. NASA was created in response to the Soviet Union’s October 4, 1957 launch of the satellite Sputnik. The Mercury Program, to be followed by Gemini and Apollo, were part of NASA’s plan as the United States competed against the USSR in space. The ultimate goal was to be the first to land on the Moon. This rivalry, known as the Space Race, was extremely important to both countries, as they were in the middle of the “Cold War”. As they positioned themselves to show the world its system of government was correct, it was critical to each country they were technologically and ideologically superior to the other.
The Mercury Project ran from October 1958 through the end of 1963. In order to catch up to the Soviet Union in the Space Race, NASA had three Main objectives during the project.
1. To orbit a manned spacecraft around Earth.
2. To investigate man’s ability to function in space.
3. To recover both man and spacecraft safely.
During the Mercury Program, the cost close to 384 million dollars, which is equal to several billion in today’s dollars, there were 20 unmanned and 6 manned flights. The spacecraft were small, and cone-shaped. They generally averaged 11 ft high and six feet in diameter, having room for one crew member.
Each flight had several objectives to be measured during its mission. These missions were extensively evaluated and assessed; taking one step closer to prepare to have an American land on the moon. In part of this preparation, to see the possible effects on astronauts in weightlessness, NASA sent a total of four chimpanzees and monkeys in Mercury spaceships. Enos, a chimpanzee, orbited the earth twice in a 3 hour and 21 minutes flight, on November 29, 1961. This experiment/test was a critical prerequisite to the first American manned orbit on Feb 20, 1962, by John Glenn.
The selection of astronauts to participate in the program began in January 1959, more than a year after the Mercury Project had been in effect. A NASA Committee began to screen 508 service records of military test pilots. Because of the small size of the spaceship, the individual could not be taller than 5′ 11″. The group was narrowed down to 110, then to 32 and then again down to 18.
On April 9, 1959, seven individuals; Scott Carpenter, L. Gordon Cooper, Jr., John H. Glenn, Jr., Virgil I. “Gus” Grissom, Walter M. Schirra, Jr., Alan B. Shepard, Jr., and Donald K. “Deke” Slayton, were introduced to the public as the “Mercury Seven”. They immediately became nation heroes as the first Americans selected to train to venture into space. All but Slayton would fly during the Mercury Project.
Two years after the selection, on May 5, 1961 the Mercury Project launched, its first American, Alan Shepard, into space. The suborbital flight lasted 15 minutes and 28 seconds. Shepard’s call sign “Freedom 7” was named to honor the teamwork and camaraderie of the Mercury Seven astronauts. All Mercury manned spaceflights continued this tradition by adding 7 to their call signs.
Not even a year after Shepard’s flight, on February 20, 1962, John Glenn became legendary in US history, when he became the first American to orbit the earth. The 4 hour 55 minute 23 second flight, where Glenn orbited the earth three times in “Friendship 7”, was a huge morale and confidence builder for NASA and the nation’s people.
There were three more manned Mercury flights after Glenn’s. The last one “Faith 7”, was piloted by Gordon Cooper, Jr. on May 15, 1963. During this flight, Cooper orbited the earth 22 times and was the first American to be in space for a day. He was also the last American to ever orbit the earth solo.
Upon the completion of Cooper’s flight, it brought an end to the Mercury Project. NASA was able to complete the project’s three objectives; send a manned spacecraft into space; confirm that he was able to function in space and return to earth. The Mercury missions paved the way for the future Gemini and Apollo programs that eventually landed a man on the moon.
