Project Mercury - History and information on Project Mercury
The actual beginning of the effort that resulted in manned space flight cannot be pinpointed. Implementation was initiated to establish Project Mercury, on October 7, 1958. The objectives of the Mercury Project were to place a manned spacecraft in orbital flight, investigate man's performance capabilities, and recover the man & the spacecraft safely.
Project Mercury Little Joe 1 - LJ-1
Project Mercury Little Joe 1 was a Max Q abort and escape test. Objective was to determine how well the escape rocket would function under the most severe dynamic loading conditions anticipated during a Mercury-Atlas launching.
Project Mercury Little Joe 1 was a Max Q abort and escape test. Objective was to determine how well the escape rocket would function under the most severe dynamic loading conditions anticipated during a Mercury-Atlas launching.
Project Mercury Big Joe 1 - BJ-1
Mercury Mission Big Joe 1 was a test of ablation heatshield. The nose-cone capsule for Big Joe had no retrorocket package. The inner structure held only a half-sized instrumented pressure vessel instead of a pressurized cabin contoured to the outer configuration. Built in two segments, the lower half by Lewis and the upper by Langley, the main body of the spacecraft replica was fabricated with thin sheets of corrugated Inconel alloy in monocoque construction.
Mercury Mission Big Joe 1 was a test of ablation heatshield. The nose-cone capsule for Big Joe had no retrorocket package. The inner structure held only a half-sized instrumented pressure vessel instead of a pressurized cabin contoured to the outer configuration. Built in two segments, the lower half by Lewis and the upper by Langley, the main body of the spacecraft replica was fabricated with thin sheets of corrugated Inconel alloy in monocoque construction.
Project Mercury Overview Pictures Gallery
Implementation was initiated to establish Project Mercury, on October 7, 1958. The life of the project was about 4 2/3 years, from the time of its official go-ahead to the completion of the 34-hour orbital mission of Astronaut Cooper. These Project Mercury pictures give a basic view of the early days of the first NASA space program, Project Mercury.
Implementation was initiated to establish Project Mercury, on October 7, 1958. The life of the project was about 4 2/3 years, from the time of its official go-ahead to the completion of the 34-hour orbital mission of Astronaut Cooper. These Project Mercury pictures give a basic view of the early days of the first NASA space program, Project Mercury.