The Mercury 7 On April 9, 1959, reporters and news media crammed into the ballroom of the Dolley Madison House…

On Nov. 5, 1958, NASA, newly established to lead America’s civilian space program, formally established the Space Task Group (STG)…

On May 16, 1963, NASA astronaut L. Gordon Cooper splashed down in the Pacific Ocean, completing the final mission of…

On Oct. 3, 1962, astronaut Walter M. “Wally” Schirra completed America’s third and then-longest orbital spaceflight during the Mercury-Atlas 8…

On May 24, 1962, astronaut M. Scott Carpenter completed America’s second orbital spaceflight during the Mercury-Atlas 7 mission. Carpenter flew…

In February 1962, the space race between the United States and the Soviet Union was in full swing. Both nations…

In 1962, John Glenn hurtled around Earth three times. In total, his historic flight — the first time an American…

On April 9, 1959, NASA formally introduced to the nation and the world its seven Mercury astronauts. The event took…

Project Mercury was America’s first human space flight program. The Space Task Group at Langley Research Center in Virginia initiated…

Before NASA could send humans to space, the agency needed to better understand the effects of prolonged weightlessness on the…

The Mercury-Redstone launch vehicle was the first crewed launch vehicle in the United States space program. The Mercury-Redstone provided NASA…

During America’s first human spaceflight program, Project Mercury, the eyes of the world often focused on Cape Canaveral Air Force…