Project Mercury Mission Capsule
This Mercury capsule, No. 15B, is one of two left. It alone shows the complete one-man spacecraft in its orbital configuration. It includes the silver and black retrorocket package (left, above) used to slow the capsule for return to Earth, and the nose section containing the parachutes.
The first American in space, Alan B Shepard, Jr., hoped to fly this Mercury capsule on a long-duration orbital mission in late 1963 called Mercury-Atlas 10 (MA-10). After the success of MA-9, flown by astronaut Gordon Cooper in May 1963, NASA decided to cancel MA-10 to concentrate on its next human spaceflight project, Gemini. Reflecting Shepard's hope of flying in space again, he had the name Freedom 7 II painted on the spacecraft in tribute to his historic 1961 capsule, Freedom 7,
Mercury capsule 15 originally was sent to Cape Canaveral in 1961 for a manned sub-orbital mission, Mercury-Redstone 5 (MR-5) that was cancelled. It was then modified for an orbital mission and renumbered 15A, and then modified again as a back-up to the MA-9 spacecraft, No. 20, and as the prime spacecraft for MA-10, and dubbed 15B. In September 1967 NASA transferred the capsule to the Smithsonian Institution.
Project Mercury was the first human spaceflight programme for the USA, running from 1958 to 1963. An early highlight of the space race, its goal was to put a man into Earth orbit and return him safely, ideally before the Soviet Union, in a new element of the Cold War.
Taken over from the US Air Force by the newly-created civilian space agency NASA, it conducted 20 unmanned developmental flights (some using animals), and six successful flights by astronauts. The programme, which took its name from Roman mythology, cost $1.8 billion adjusted for inflation. The astronauts were collectively known as the "Mercury Seven", and each spacecraft was given a name ending with a "7" by its pilot. The film "The Right Stuff" tells a version of those astronauts' selection and flights.
When Project Mercury ended in May 1963, both nations had sent six people into space, but the Soviets led the US in total time spent in space.
The Mercury space capsule was produced by McDonnell Aircraft, and carried supplies of water, food and oxygen for about one day in a pressurised cabin. Mercury flights were launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, on launch vehicles modified from the Redstone and Atlas D missiles. The capsule was fitted with a launch escape rocket to carry it safely away from the launch vehicle in case of a failure. The flight was designed to be controlled from the ground via the Manned Space Flight Network, a system of tracking and communications stations; back-up controls were outfitted on board. Small retrorockets were used to bring the spacecraft out of its orbit, after which an ablative heat shield protected it from the heat of atmospheric reentry. Finally, a parachute slowed the craft for a water landing. Both astronaut and capsule were recovered by helicopters operating from US Navy ships.
The Mercury project missions were followed by millions on radio and TV around the world. Its success laid the groundwork for Project Gemini, which carried two astronauts in each capsule and perfected space docking manoeuvres essential for manned lunar landings in the subsequent Apollo programme announced a few weeks after the first manned Mercury flight.
Project Mercury Mission Capsule
This Mercury capsule, No. 15B, is one of two left. It alone shows the complete one-man spacecraft in its orbital configuration. It includes the silver and black retrorocket package (left, above) used to slow the capsule for return to Earth, and the nose section containing the parachutes.
The first American in space, Alan B Shepard, Jr., hoped to fly this Mercury capsule on a long-duration orbital mission in late 1963 called Mercury-Atlas 10 (MA-10). After the success of MA-9, flown by astronaut Gordon Cooper in May 1963, NASA decided to cancel MA-10 to concentrate on its next human spaceflight project, Gemini. Reflecting Shepard's hope of flying in space again, he had the name Freedom 7 II painted on the spacecraft in tribute to his historic 1961 capsule, Freedom 7,
Mercury capsule 15 originally was sent to Cape Canaveral in 1961 for a manned sub-orbital mission, Mercury-Redstone 5 (MR-5) that was cancelled. It was then modified for an orbital mission and renumbered 15A, and then modified again as a back-up to the MA-9 spacecraft, No. 20, and as the prime spacecraft for MA-10, and dubbed 15B. In September 1967 NASA transferred the capsule to the Smithsonian Institution.
Project Mercury was the first human spaceflight programme for the USA, running from 1958 to 1963. An early highlight of the space race, its goal was to put a man into Earth orbit and return him safely, ideally before the Soviet Union, in a new element of the Cold War.
Taken over from the US Air Force by the newly-created civilian space agency NASA, it conducted 20 unmanned developmental flights (some using animals), and six successful flights by astronauts. The programme, which took its name from Roman mythology, cost $1.8 billion adjusted for inflation. The astronauts were collectively known as the "Mercury Seven", and each spacecraft was given a name ending with a "7" by its pilot. The film "The Right Stuff" tells a version of those astronauts' selection and flights.
When Project Mercury ended in May 1963, both nations had sent six people into space, but the Soviets led the US in total time spent in space.
The Mercury space capsule was produced by McDonnell Aircraft, and carried supplies of water, food and oxygen for about one day in a pressurised cabin. Mercury flights were launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, on launch vehicles modified from the Redstone and Atlas D missiles. The capsule was fitted with a launch escape rocket to carry it safely away from the launch vehicle in case of a failure. The flight was designed to be controlled from the ground via the Manned Space Flight Network, a system of tracking and communications stations; back-up controls were outfitted on board. Small retrorockets were used to bring the spacecraft out of its orbit, after which an ablative heat shield protected it from the heat of atmospheric reentry. Finally, a parachute slowed the craft for a water landing. Both astronaut and capsule were recovered by helicopters operating from US Navy ships.
The Mercury project missions were followed by millions on radio and TV around the world. Its success laid the groundwork for Project Gemini, which carried two astronauts in each capsule and perfected space docking manoeuvres essential for manned lunar landings in the subsequent Apollo programme announced a few weeks after the first manned Mercury flight.