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NASA introduced the 'Man-In-Space' project in 1958, as the first step in their Herculean ambition to land the first man on the Moon. A year later, having been renamed the 'Mercury Project', a group of USAF pilots known as the Mercury Seven began training. Walter Schirra, Donald Slayton, John Glenn, Scott Carpenter, Alan Shepard, Gus Grissom and Gordon Cooper took part in the four year project to test the feasibility of manned space flight.
The objectives of the Mercury Project were clear: to send a manned spacecraft in orbit around Earth, investigate man's ability to function in space and recover both man and spacecraft safely.
One monkey, a chimpanzee, two human suborbital flights and four human orbital flights later, the Mercury Project was a complete success. Its experiments and test flights proved that human spaceflight was possible, paving the way for the ambitious Gemini and Apollo programs. Through the Mercury and Gemini projects, NASA developed the technology and skills it needed for the journey to the moon.
Animal suborbital research
Many species of animal were used in rocket experiments prior to human space flight. They were used to test the forces of gravity, the effects of high-speed movement, and other conditions anticipated in space travel. Monkeys "Able" and "Baker" were the first living creatures to survive spaceflight in 1959. They were launched 360 miles (579 km) and reached a top speed of 10,000 mph (16,000 km/h). They were weightless for nine minutes of their sixteen minute flight. The monkeys survived the flight, and although "Able" died soon after surgery to remove an infected medical electrode, "Baker" survived until 1984.
Mercury monkeys
The Mercury programme used a rhesus monkey named Sam, and then a chimpanzee called Ham in the pre-human suborbital flight research. Sam was encased in a fibreglass 'couch' and blasted into suborbit aboard Little Joe 2 in 1959.
To ensure human survival during space flight, and to demonstrate clear thinking while completing tasks, NASA launched Ham into suborbit in 1961. However, an early error saw the flight path rise a degree higher than planned and the mission was aborted. Ham travelled 40 miles higher and sustained 18G, remarkably still completing tasks during the mission. Back on Earth, Ham waited for three hours bobbing in the leaking Mercury capsule in the Atlantic before he was recovered and treated to an apple as a reward. Ham died in 1983, aged 25.
Mercury first manned suborbit
Shortly after the successful Ham flight, Alan Shepard became the first American astronaut when he flew in suborbit for 15 minutes in the Mercury 3 capsule, Freedom 7.
To correct some of the defects exposed during Ham's space flight, a second Mercury chimpanzee paved the way for full human Earth orbit. Chimp Enos orbited the Earth twice and returned safely before John Glenn climbed inside Mercury capsule Friendship 7 and orbited the Earth three times in 1961.
The objectives of the Mercury Project were clear: to send a manned spacecraft in orbit around Earth, investigate man's ability to function in space and recover both man and spacecraft safely.
One monkey, a chimpanzee, two human suborbital flights and four human orbital flights later, the Mercury Project was a complete success. Its experiments and test flights proved that human spaceflight was possible, paving the way for the ambitious Gemini and Apollo programs. Through the Mercury and Gemini projects, NASA developed the technology and skills it needed for the journey to the moon.
Animal suborbital research
Many species of animal were used in rocket experiments prior to human space flight. They were used to test the forces of gravity, the effects of high-speed movement, and other conditions anticipated in space travel. Monkeys "Able" and "Baker" were the first living creatures to survive spaceflight in 1959. They were launched 360 miles (579 km) and reached a top speed of 10,000 mph (16,000 km/h). They were weightless for nine minutes of their sixteen minute flight. The monkeys survived the flight, and although "Able" died soon after surgery to remove an infected medical electrode, "Baker" survived until 1984.
Mercury monkeys
The Mercury programme used a rhesus monkey named Sam, and then a chimpanzee called Ham in the pre-human suborbital flight research. Sam was encased in a fibreglass 'couch' and blasted into suborbit aboard Little Joe 2 in 1959.
To ensure human survival during space flight, and to demonstrate clear thinking while completing tasks, NASA launched Ham into suborbit in 1961. However, an early error saw the flight path rise a degree higher than planned and the mission was aborted. Ham travelled 40 miles higher and sustained 18G, remarkably still completing tasks during the mission. Back on Earth, Ham waited for three hours bobbing in the leaking Mercury capsule in the Atlantic before he was recovered and treated to an apple as a reward. Ham died in 1983, aged 25.
Mercury first manned suborbit
Shortly after the successful Ham flight, Alan Shepard became the first American astronaut when he flew in suborbit for 15 minutes in the Mercury 3 capsule, Freedom 7.
To correct some of the defects exposed during Ham's space flight, a second Mercury chimpanzee paved the way for full human Earth orbit. Chimp Enos orbited the Earth twice and returned safely before John Glenn climbed inside Mercury capsule Friendship 7 and orbited the Earth three times in 1961.
