Project Mercury Wikipedia. Project Mercury was the first human spaceflight program of the United States, running from 1. 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. Taken over from the U. S. Air Force by the newly created civilian space agency NASA, it conducted twenty unmanned developmental flights some using animals, and six successful flights by astronauts. Best Calendar Reminder Program. The program, which took its name from Roman mythology, cost 2. US dollars, and involved the work of 2 million people. The astronauts were collectively known as the Mercury Seven, and each spacecraft was given a name ending with a 7 by its pilot. The Space Race began with the 1. Soviet satellite. Sputnik 1. This came as a shock to the American public, and led to the creation of NASA to expedite existing U. S. space exploration efforts, and place most of them under civilian control. After the successful launch of the Explorer 1 satellite in 1. The Soviet Union put the first human, cosmonaut. Yuri Gagarin, into a single orbit aboard Vostok 1 on April 1. Shortly after this, on May 5, the U. S. launched its first astronaut, Alan Shepard, on a suborbital flight. Visit Prince Frederick Ford in Prince Frederick for a variety of new used cars cars, parts, service, and financing. We are a full service dealership, ready to meet. Mercury Center, HГ Nбi. K likes. Mercury lГ mбt tб chбc hoбt Дбng tГnh nguyбn vбi cam kбt ДГng gГp cho sб phГt triбn cбa hбc sinh. San Jose Youth psychiatric facility at Valley Medical Center For decades, Santa Clara County has sent kids who need psychiatric hospitalization as far away as. Mercury Center' title='Mercury Center' />Soviet Gherman Titov followed with a day long orbital flight in August 1. The U. S. reached its orbital goal on February 2. John Glenn made three orbits around the Earth. West Point Sales in Houston, TX offers new and used cars, trucks, and SUVs to our customers near Sugar Land. Visit us for sales, financing, service, and parts NASA. Americas space agency. Get the latest updates on NASA missions, watch NASA TV live, and learn about our. Mercury is the smallest and innermost planet in the Solar System. Its orbital period around the Sun of 88 days is the shortest of all the planets in the Solar System. When Mercury ended in May 1. Soviets led the U. S. in total time spent in space. The Mercury space capsule was produced by Mc. Donnell Aircraft, and carried supplies of water, food and oxygen for about one day in a pressurized 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 deployed from a U. S. Navy ship. After a slow start riddled with humiliating mistakes, the Mercury project gained popularity, its missions 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 maneuvers essential for manned lunar landings in the subsequent Apollo program announced a few weeks after the first manned Mercury flight. CreationeditProject Mercury was officially approved on October 7, 1. Providing training service, horse race track, sales prep and cosignor services in the horse and equine industry. Mercury Center' title='Mercury Center' />December 1. Originally called Project Astronaut, President Dwight Eisenhower felt that gave too much attention to the pilot. Instead, the name Mercury was chosen from classical mythology, which had already lent names to rockets like the Greek Atlas and Roman Jupiter for the SM 6. PGM 1. 9missiles. It absorbed military projects with the same aim, such as the Air Force Man In Space Soonest. BackgroundeditFollowing the end of World War II, a nuclear arms race evolved between the U. S. and the Soviet Union USSR. Since the USSR did not have bases in the western hemisphere from which to deploy bomber planes, Joseph Stalin decided to develop intercontinental ballistic missiles, which drove a missile race. The rocket technology in turn enabled both sides to develop Earth orbiting satellites for communications, and gathering weather data and intelligence. D4l Download Mp3 on this page. Americans were shocked when the Soviet Union placed the first satellite into orbit in October 1. U. S. was falling into a missile gap. A month later, the Soviets launched Sputnik 2, carrying a dog into orbit. Though the animal was not recovered alive, it was obvious their goal was manned spaceflight. Unable to disclose details of military space projects, President Eisenhower ordered the creation of a civilian space agency in charge of civilian and scientific space exploration. Based on the federal research agency National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics NACA, it was named the National Aeronautics and Space Administration NASA. It achieved its first goal, an American satellite in space, in 1. The next goal was to put a man there. The limit of space was defined at the time as a minimum altitude of 6. This created risks for the pilot, including explosion, high g forces and vibrations during lift off through a dense atmosphere,1. F 5,5. 00 C from air compression during reentry. In space, pilots would require pressurized chambers or space suits to supply fresh air. While there, they would experience weightlessness, which could potentially cause disorientation. Mercury Center' title='Mercury Center' />Further potential risks included radiation and micrometeoroid strikes, both of which would normally be absorbed in the atmosphere. All seemed possible to overcome experience from satellites suggested micrometeoroid risk was negligible,2. Finally, reentry was studied using the nuclear warheads of ballistic missiles,2. OrganizationeditT. Keith Glennan had been appointed the first Administrator of NASA, with Hugh L. Dryden last Director of NACA as his Deputy, at the creation of the agency on October 1, 1. Glennan would report to the president through the National Aeronautics and Space Council. The group responsible for Project Mercury was NASAs Space Task Group, and the goals of the program were to orbit a manned spacecraft around Earth, investigate the pilots ability to function in space, and to recover both pilot and spacecraft safely. Existing technology and off the shelf equipment would be used wherever practical, the simplest and most reliable approach to system design would be followed, and an existing launch vehicle would be employed, together with a progressive test program. Spacecraft requirements included a launch escape system to separate the spacecraft and its occupant from the launch vehicle in case of impending failure attitude control for orientation of the spacecraft in orbit a retrorocket system to bring the spacecraft out of orbit drag braking blunt body for atmospheric reentry and landing on water. To communicate with the spacecraft during an orbital mission, an extensive communications network had to be built. In keeping with his desire to keep from giving the U. S. space program an overly military flavor, President Eisenhower at first hesitated to give the project top national priority DX rating under the Defense Production Act, which meant that Mercury had to wait in line behind military projects for materials however, this rating was granted in May 1. Sputnik was launched. Contractors and facilitieseditTwelve companies bid to build the Mercury spacecraft on a 2. In January 1. 95. Mc. Donnell Aircraft Corporation was chosen to be prime contractor for the spacecraft. Two weeks earlier, North American Aviation, based in Los Angeles, was awarded a contract for Little Joe, a small rocket to be used for development of the launch escape system. Mercury Center' title='Mercury Center' />The World Wide Tracking Network for communication between the ground and spacecraft during a flight was awarded to the Western Electric Company.