Mercury project

Engineers of the McDonnell Aircraft Company check the Aurora 7 spacecraft prior to astronaut Scott Carpenter's triple-orbit mission round Earth. The Mercury project flight suffered technical difficulties and very nearly ended in disaster.

US astronauts Gus Grissom, Edward White, and Roger Chaffee (left to right). The crew are seen here standing in front of Space Launch Complex 34. During a training exercise their command module caught fire and they were killed.

US astronaut Scott Carpenter studies the honeycomb structure at the base of the Mercury spacecraft Aurora 7. The stainless steel honeycomb is designed to provide additional insulation of the capsule against the heat of re-entry.

Chimpanzee Ham is welcomed home by the commander of the recovery ship USS Donner, following his Mercury 2 flight in January 1961.

US project 1961-63 to put a human in space using the one-seat Mercury spacecraft.

The first two Mercury flights, on Redstone rockets, were short voyages to the edge of space and back. The flights were known by the double name of Mercury-Redstone, with Alan Shepherd flying on Mercury-Redstone 3 to become the first US astronaut in space. The orbital flights were launched by Atlas rockets. The Mercury-Atlas 6 flight was made on 20 February 1962 by John Glenn, who became the first US astronaut to orbit the Earth.