# Project Mercury – NASA

Official National Aeronautics and Space Administration Website

- From NASA’s First Astronaut Class to Artemis II: The Importance of Military Jet Pilot Experience The Mercury 7 On April 9, 1959, reporters and news media crammed into the ballroom of the Dolley Madison House in Washington—the location of NASA Headquarters at that time—to learn the names of the first American astronauts who came to be known as the Mercury 7. Public Information Director Walter Bonney kicked off the announcement [&#8230;]
- 65 Years Ago: NASA Selects America’s First Astronauts On Nov. 5, 1958, NASA, newly established to lead America’s civilian space program, formally established the Space Task Group (STG) at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, to implement one of the nation’s top priorities – to develop a spacecraft capable of sending humans into space and returning them safely to Earth. In January [&#8230;]
- Celebrating Astronaut Alan Shepard’s 100th Birthday Born barely 20 years after the Wright Brothers’ first flight, Alan Shepard grew up to fly combat missions in World War II, test multiple new aircraft, become the first American in space, and ultimately hit the first golf shot on the Moon. Born on Nov. 18, 1923, Shepard lifted off in the Freedom 7 spacecraft [&#8230;]
- 60 Years Ago: Cooper’s Faith 7 Mission Closes Out Project Mercury On May 16, 1963, NASA astronaut L. Gordon Cooper splashed down in the Pacific Ocean, completing the final mission of Project Mercury and the longest American spaceflight up to that time. His 22-orbit Mercury-Atlas 9 mission aboard the Faith 7 spacecraft lasted 34 hours and 20 minutes.
- 60 Years Ago: Astronaut Schirra Orbits the Earth Six Times Aboard Sigma 7 On Oct. 3, 1962, astronaut Walter M. “Wally” Schirra completed America’s third and then-longest orbital spaceflight during the Mercury-Atlas 8 mission. Naming his spacecraft Sigma 7, Schirra completed six orbits of the Earth, conducting engineering tests of his spacecraft and several experiments including photography of the planet. After he made the first splashdown in the [&#8230;]
- First Microgravity Experiment Flown on Project Mercury At 7:45 a.m. on May 24, 1962 Scott Carpenter’s Mercury-Atlas Aurora 7 lifted off from Cape Canaveral, Florida. Five minutes and 26 seconds later, a small amount of dyed liquid flowed into an encapsulated glass tube behind his right shoulder as the capsule entered space. The experiment, designed by researchers at NASA Lewis Research Center [&#8230;]
- 60 Years Ago: Scott Carpenter Orbits the Earth aboard Aurora 7 On May 24, 1962, astronaut M. Scott Carpenter completed America’s second orbital spaceflight during the Mercury-Atlas 7 mission. Carpenter flew the mission after doctors grounded the prime crew member, astronaut Donald K. “Deke” Slayton, due to a minor heart condition. Naming his spacecraft Aurora 7, Carpenter completed three orbits of the Earth, conducting several experiments [&#8230;]
- 60 Years Ago: John Glenn, the First American to Orbit the Earth aboard Friendship 7 In February 1962, the space race between the United States and the Soviet Union was in full swing. Both nations had developed spacecraft to send humans into space and selected a group of pilots to fly those spacecraft. The Soviets leaped ahead by placing the first man, Yuri A. Gagarin, in space on April 12, [&#8230;]
- 60 Years Ago: Alan Shepard Becomes the First American in Space In 1961, the United States and the Soviet Union found themselves in a race to put the first human being into space. The United States initiated Project Mercury in 1958 to put the first American into space and selected its first group of astronauts in 1959 to begin training for that mission. The Soviets kept [&#8230;]
- Tech that Helped John Glenn Breathe in Orbit is on Your Flight Too In 1962, John Glenn hurtled around Earth three times. In total, his historic flight — the first time an American reached orbit — lasted four hours and 56 minutes. Glenn was able to breathe on that flight thanks to important innovations that were later used for Apollo missions and now benefit us too. It all [&#8230;]