The Stars My Destination: Mercury '60-'63

The Space Race: The 58th-63rd Anniversaries of Project Mercury
Six men challenged the unknown in tiny Mercury capsules across six flights in the two years between 5 May 1961-15 May 1963, America's first manned space flights. Project Mercury required both truly experimental test flying & literal rocket science. The Freedom 7 & the Liberty Bell 7 flew fifteen-minute suborbital missions, propelled by the Mercury-Redstone Launch Vehicle, a direct descendant of the V-2 ballistic missile from the Second World War. The Liberty Bell 7 sank shortly after splashdown & was not recovered from the sea floor for nearly thirty-eight years. The Friendship 7, Aurora 7, Sigma 7, & Faith 7 flew orbital missions, launched by the Atlas LV-3B, also known as the Atlas D Mercury Launch Vehicle, derived from the United States's first intercontinental ballistic missle (I.C.B.M.). The Friendship 7 & the Aurora 7 each flew three orbits, the Sigma 7 matched them both by flying six orbits, & the Faith 7 pushed the Mercury spacecraft to the absolutle limits, completing twenty-two orbits over the course of thirty-four hours.

No human had ever flown in outer space when the "Mercury Seven" were introduced to the public on 9 April 1959: Scott Carpenter, Gordon Cooper, John Glenn, Gus Grissom, Wally Schirra, Al Shepard, & Deke Slayton. The Seven were all military test pilots between the ages of thirty-two & thirty seven with intelligence quotients (think what you will of I.Q. scores) between one hundred thirty-five & one hundred forty-seven. They were involved in the design of the Mercury spacecraft, insisting on a window & greater flight control for the astronaut pilot, as well as the ground systems for tracking & controlling flights. Glenn personally insisted on taking a thirty-five millimeter (35mm) camera aboard the Friendship 7 (Mercury-Atlas 6, 20 February 1962) over the objections of the engineers & mission planners; today, the Cuopla module, with its seven Earth-facing windows, is the most iconic location aboard the International Space Station.

Let us never forget Project Mercury, the beginning of America's great adventure into the final frontier.

The Wayback Machine Tour of Project Mercury
1960
"The Explorers' Club," № CMLXVIII: The 63rd Anniversary of Mercury-Atlas 1
"The Explorers' Club," № DCCCLIX: The 61st Anniversary of Mercury-Redstones 1 & 1A
1961
"The Explorers' Club," № DCCXCVI: The 60th Anniversary of Mercury-Redstone 2
"The Explorers' Club," № CMXXXIV: The 62nd Anniversary of Mercury-Atlas 2
"The Explorers' Club," № DCCCVI: The 60th Anniversary of Mercury-Redstone B.D.
"The Explorers' Club," № CMXLVII: The 62nd Anniversary of Mercury-Atlas 3
"The Explorers' Club," № DCCXLVII: The 59th Anniversary of Mercury-Redstone 3
"The Explorers' Club," № DCCLX: The 59th Anniversary of Mercury-Redstone 4
"The Explorers' Club," № CMLXXIX: The 62nd Anniversary of Mercury-Atlas 4
"The Explorers' Club," № DCCCLVI: The 60th Anniversary of Mercury-Atlas 5
1962
"The Explorers' Club," № DCCXXXIII: The 58th Anniversary of Mercury-Atlas 6
"The Explorers' Club," № DCCCXVIII: The 59th Anniversary of Mercury-Atlas 7
"The Explorers' Club," № DCCCXLIII: The 59th Anniversary of Mercury-Atlas 8
1963
"The Explorers' Club," № DCCCLXXXIII: The 59th Anniversary of Mercury-Atlas 9

The Wayback Machine Tour of the Mercury Seven
"The Explorers' Club," № DCCCIX: Part I—Astronaut Group 1
"The Explorers' Club," № DCCCXXIV: Part II—Al Shepard
"The Explorers' Club," № DCCCXXV: Part III—Gus Grissom
"The Explorers' Club," № DCCCXXXVII: Part IV—John Glenn
"The Explorers' Club," № DCCCXLV: Part V—Scott Carpenter
"The Explorers' Club," № DCCCLXI: Part VI—Wally Schirra
"The Explorers' Club," № DCCCLXII: Part VII—Gordon Cooper
"The Explorers' Club," № DCCCLXIII: Part VIII—Deke Slayton