Project Mercury

space exploration · space race · astronauts

First American spaceflight. Project Mercury ran from 1958 to 1963 and was the United States' first program to send humans into space. It was taken over by NASA, a brand new civilian space agency, from the Air Force.

The Mercury Seven. Seven skilled astronauts flew on the program's six successful crewed missions and became famous as the "Mercury Seven." Each pilot got to name their spacecraft, and they all chose names ending in "7" to honor the team.

A crucial goal. The main mission was to put a human into orbit around Earth and bring them back safely. America wanted to do this before the Soviet Union, making it an important part of the Space Race.

Expensive venture. Project Mercury cost $2.83 billion, which was a huge amount of money in the 1960s. The program also flew 20 uncrewed test missions before humans ever went up.

Named after mythology. The program took its name from Mercury, the speedy messenger god in Roman mythology, because the spacecraft needed to be fast and reliable.