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podcast transcript
In the late 1950s, the United States was falling behind in the space race as the Soviet Union achieved one milestone after another.
In response, NASA launched Project Mercury, an ambitious effort to send Americans into space using experimental rockets, cramped capsules, and sheer determination.
Explosions, near-disasters, and political pressures surrounded every mission, but the program laid the foundation for landing a man on the moon.
Learn more about the Mercury program and America’s first manned space flight in this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily.
When the Soviet Union launched Sputnik on October 4, 1957, the United States fell into panic. The Soviet launch shocked the United States politically and culturally. The Americans feared that the Soviets would surpass them technologically and militarily, especially since rockets that could launch satellites could also deliver nuclear weapons.
Americans already working to get a satellite into orbit were exposed publicly in a historically humiliating manner.
The Eisenhower administration responded in many ways. In July 1958, Congress passed the National Aeronautics and Space Act, creating the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), which officially opened on October 1, 1958.
One of its first and most urgent missions was to send Americans into space before the Soviets did.
Before NASA existed, the U.S. Air Force had been developing its own manned spaceflight concept called Man In Space Soonest. (miss). When NASA was founded, it absorbed most of this work. The new civilian agency moved at an unusual pace. On November 26, 1958, less than two months after NASA was founded, the agency officially approved Project Mercury, named for the speedy messenger god of Roman mythology.
Although the program’s stated goals were simple, it was technologically shocking at the time.
- Place humans in orbital flight around Earth.
- Investigates the human body’s ability to function in space.
- Rescue both astronauts and spacecraft safely.
Implied goals not stated in official documents were equally important. It’s about beating the Soviet Union.
No one knew for sure whether humans could survive long-term weightlessness. Scientists have debated whether astronauts could become disoriented, lose consciousness, or even go crazy in zero gravity.
The first order of business was to build a space capsule, something that had never been done before. The Mercury capsule was designed by a team led by Max Faget. Faget’s design was intentionally simple and conservative. The re-entry of a blunt body was chosen because it is better understood and easier to control than a pointed shape.
The capsule was 9 feet 5 inches tall, had a base diameter of 6 feet 2.5 inches, and weighed approximately 3,000 pounds. It was somehow barely smaller than a phone booth. The astronaut was lying in a semi-reclined position on a skin-tight sofa. There was very little room to move. Early astronauts half-jokingly pointed out that you were not in a Mercury capsule. You wore it.
The spacecraft had about 120 controls, 55 electrical switches, 30 fuses and 35 mechanical levers. Despite this complexity, the capsule is designed to allow unconscious astronauts to automatically complete their mission in emergency situations.
Every aspect of the mission had to be designed from scratch, including tracking systems, space suits, recovery operations, and astronaut training procedures.
Another important thing was finding astronauts to place in the capsule.
NASA’s standards were strict. To fly in the capsule, candidates had to be military test pilots under 40 years old, under 5 feet 11 inches tall, have at least 1,500 hours of flight time and have a bachelor’s degree in engineering or the equivalent.
Of the 508 military test pilots selected, 110 were selected for further evaluation. The men endured several days of physical examinations, psychological tests, and stress assessments. The final seven were selected in February 1959 and announced to the public on April 9, 1959. NASA introduced the world to America’s first astronaut, Mercury 7.
The public’s embrace of the Mercury astronauts was immediate and overwhelming. life Magazines bought exclusive rights to their personal stories, and the seven men became the most famous living Americans. They were fighter pilots, family members, and heroes, a much-needed image for a tense nation.
NASA conducted a series of unmanned test flights before sending humans into space. The mission tested the launch vehicle, heat shield, escape system, and recovery procedures. Several flights failed. Rockets explode, capsules malfunction, and systems fail unexpectedly. One major problem had to do with the launch vehicle itself.
Both the Redstone rocket used for suborbital flights and the Atlas rocket used for orbital missions have had reliability problems. Atlas missiles in particular were prone to exploding during testing. It took a lot of confidence and courage to convince the astronauts to sit on this rocket.
NASA also used animals in early tests. Monkeys Sam, Miss Sam, Ham, and Enos were launched to evaluate the impact of spaceflight on life. The chimpanzee Ham became especially famous after successfully performing the task during a suborbital flight in January 1961. His mission demonstrated that life can function in space and survive the stresses of launch and reentry.
On April 12, 1961, as NASA was preparing for the first astronaut flight, Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first cosmonaut to complete a full orbit around the Earth.
Americans were humiliated once again. Less than three months after taking office, President Kennedy faced a crisis of confidence in America’s technological capabilities. Despite this blow to America’s reputation, NASA methodically continued to execute its plans.
The first manned mission to Mercury was Mercury-Redstone 3, better known as Freedom 7, launched on May 5, 1961. Alan Shepard became the first American to go into space.
The mission was suborbital. That is, the spacecraft did not orbit the Earth, but instead followed a ballistic arc into space before returning to Earth. The flight only lasted about 15 minutes. Shepard’s primary goals were to evaluate spacecraft systems, determine whether humans could function in weightlessness, and test recovery procedures.
The mission was a success and restored some of America’s confidence after Gagarin’s earlier achievements.
The next mission was Mercury-Redstone 4, Liberty Bell 7, flown by Gus Grissom on July 21, 1961. Like Shepard’s flight, it was a suborbital flight. Although the mission itself was largely successful, it became famous for its near-disaster.
The capsule’s hatch burst unexpectedly, flooding the spacecraft with seawater. Grissom nearly drowned while awaiting rescue, and the capsule sank to the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean. The incident sparked controversy for years, but later evidence strongly suggested that Grissom had not accidentally activated the hatch himself.
The capsule sank to the bottom of the sea but was recovered in 1999.
Liberty Bell 7 marked the end of the suborbital phase of the Mercury program. One reason the Soviet Union beat the United States in putting someone into orbit was because they were willing to take greater risks. If Gagarin’s flight had failed, that failure would have been as unknown to the public as the failure of American spaceflight.
These suborbital flights were part of a slower, more cautious approach the Americans were taking. Although this caused them to miss a few firsts in space, it contributed to their long-term success.
The next Mercury flight finally put a man in orbit, equaling the Soviet achievement.
Mercury-Atlas 6, Friendship 7, launched on February 20, 1962 with John Glenn on board. Glenn became the first American to orbit the Earth, completing three orbits during a mission that lasted nearly five hours. This flight was a great victory for the United States. But the mission was not without its problems.
During the flight, telemetry indicated that the capsule’s thermal protection may have loosened. Mission controllers feared that the shields could fail during re-entry, potentially dooming Glenn.
To reduce risk, they ordered the retrograde rocket package to remain attached to help hold the heat sink in place during reentry. Glenn survived unharmed, and subsequent analysis revealed that a warning sensor had malfunctioned.
With successful orbital missions and evidence that humans can survive and function in space, it is now a matter of continuing to push the boundaries and test the limits necessary for future planned programs.
Mercury-Atlas 7 with Scott Carpenter aboard Aurora 7 on May 24, 1962. The mission’s goals included conducting scientific experiments and further evaluating human performance in orbit.
Carpenter successfully completed three orbits, but consumed more fuel than expected due to off-schedule maneuvers and drifts. As a result, the spacecraft landed far from the planned recovery area. Carpenter recovered safely, but NASA criticized his performance on the mission because fuel management would become increasingly important in later programs.
Mercury-Atlas 8 launched on October 3, 1962, with Wally Schirra aboard a capsule called Sigma 7. Schirra focused on engineering precision and efficient spacecraft management. Unlike Carpenter’s mission, Sigma 7 was intentionally conservative.
Schirra minimized unnecessary maneuvers and carefully conserved fuel. The six-orbit mission was very successful and demonstrated that astronauts could operate effectively in space for longer periods of time.
The last Mercury mission was Mercury-Atlas 9, Faith 7, launched on May 15, 1963, with Gordon Cooper aboard. At this point, NASA wanted to push the limits of human endurance in space. Cooper spent more than 34 hours in orbit, completing 22 orbits around the Earth.
The mission demonstrated that astronauts can operate effectively in space for more than a day, an important milestone for future lunar missions. Near the end of the flight, Cooper suffered an electrical failure and had to perform a manual re-entry, which he did with great precision. The success of Faith 7 effectively brought Project Mercury to a close.
Of the first Mercury 7 astronauts, the only one who did not participate in the Mercury program was Deke Slayton. In 1962, NASA doctors discovered that he had an irregular heartbeat condition. Although Slayton showed no symptoms and remained physically capable, NASA banned him because the risk of a medical emergency in space was deemed too great.
This decision effectively eliminated active flight status during the Mercury, Gemini, and most of the Apollo programs. Instead, Slayton became NASA’s director of flight crew operations and played a key role in selecting and assigning astronauts for subsequent missions.
After years of medical evaluation, NASA finally restored his flying status in the 1970s, and he eventually flew in space during the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project in 1975, making him one of the oldest astronauts to fly at the time.
The seventh human Mercury mission planned for Alan Shepard was canceled when NASA decided that Mercury had achieved its goal and that resources should be focused on the Gemini and Apollo programs.
Most of the other Mercury astronauts continued their careers in some way.
Gus Grissom went on to command the Gemini mission and was killed in the Apollo 1 fire. Alan Shepard became commander of Apollo 14 in 1971 and became famous for hitting two golf balls on the moon.
John Glenn returned to space aboard the space shuttle Discovery in 1998 at the age of 77, making him the oldest person to ever fly in space. Wally Schirra was aboard Gemini 6 and Apollo 7. Gordon Cooper was aboard Gemini 5. Scott Carpenter never flew again, but he spent 28 days on the ocean floor as part of the SEALAB project.
Project Mercury was a huge success, although it did not win over the Soviet Union. It laid the foundation upon which Gemini and Apollo were built, showing the world and Americans that America had the talent, determination, and boldness to compete in the space age.
