The Mercury Program essays

The Mercury Program essays This report is going to be based on the NASA Mercury Program. The primary goals of this report is to explain the mission and purpose of the program, to give you an overview of the program, to explain the spacecraft used in the program, and to give flight summaries. Beginning in 1958 and culminating in 1963, Project Mercury was the United States' first man-in-space program. The objectives of the program, which made six manned flights from 1961 to 1963, were clear: To orbit a manned spacecraft around Earth, to investigate man's ability to function in space, and to recover both man and spacecraft safely. These goals and objectives were successfully completed. The true beginning of the effort that would in turn be manned space travel cannot be exactly pinpointed. History tells us that it has been in the minds of people since the beginning of recorded history. One might think that is was in the mind of the first people, but with numerous, strict, guidelines space flight was made a reality in 1961 when Astronaut Alan B. Shepard, Jr. rose into space on the first manned space flight in U.S. history. Although the flight only lasted fifteen (15) minutes and twenty-eight (28) seconds this marked a tremendous milestone in space history, U.S. history and world history. This short flight marked the beginning of a new era. This new era was a tough era but would be one to come to pass no less. The many aspects of this mile-marking program were rigorous. The making and testing of the spacecraft had strict guidelines that had to be followed. The selection process of the noble men that flew in the spacecraft was hard. The selection process started wi th 508 people that were screened. Only 110 men met the minimum requirements and standards. After those men were vigorously interrogated only sixty-nine (69) men arrived in Washington. In March of 1959 the number had decrease to thirty- six (36) men. By the end of March after many test and trials app...