Mercury Program Sources Missions Launch Site Astronauts Space Craft Zach Will Pd. 3

Astronauts John GlennJohn Glenn – First American to orbit the earth Alan ShepardAlan 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, 1923 Went into space 2 times Was a test pilot prior to being an astronaut Commanded the Mercury 3 mission In the Apollo program was involved in the third lunar landing

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

Missions Total of 29 missions First twenty were unmanned The last nine were manned and three were canceled Most important Missions Mercury - Redstone 3 – Alan Shepard made the first suborbital flight for America May 5, 1961 Mercury-Atlas 6 – John Glenn completed the first American orbit in space. February 20, 1962

Spacecraft Rockets RedstoneRedstone – 83 ft. Rocket used in the beginning of the program Atlas – 82 ft. Rocket used later in the program Mercury Capsule One crew member 1.7 cubic feet of habitable volume Over 120 controls Escape system in event of rocket failure

Launch Site Kennedy Space Center Cape Canaveral, Florida Has been the main launch site since 1968 Opened early in 1961 Replaced a launch site in Alabama Is now a popular tourist destination Rocket Launch Video

Sources Mercury Program. Web. 24 Feb NASA - Home. Web. 23 Feb Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Web. 23 Feb