Mercury program

Mercury Project is a redirect to this article. For the film see The Mercury Project .

The Mercury logo

Mercury - spaceship with rescue rocket

The Mercury program was the United States’s first manned space program . It lasted from 1958 to 1963 and was aimed at putting a human into orbit around the earth . The early phase was planned by the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA); it was then carried out by the newly founded successor organization NASA . The (civil) Mercury program was preceded by the (military) Manhigh program of the US Air Force , in which the effects of cosmic rays on humans were examined by means of balloon flights into the stratosphere .

The planning

At the beginning of October 1958 it was decided to start a manned space program in the USA. The plans were to man a spaceship with a human and to let this orbital orbit the earth . In the early phase there was talk of a manned satellite .

Various systems had to be designed and tested to run this program. A program for fully automatically controlled parachute landing was developed at the Langley Research Center . In addition , the missiles were selected with the help of the United States Air Force , which already had experience in this area . However, since these had previously only been used for military purposes, they had to be further developed for the planned use as manned carriers. It was primarily the Atlas and Redstone rockets. The German group around Wernher von Braun was also involved in the development of the Redstone .

On November 26, 1958, the name Mercury became the official project name.

The Mercury space capsule

The interior of the Mercury spaceship

The Mercury space capsule was developed by NASA under the direction of Maxime Faget , more than twenty industrial companies collaborated. The McDonnell Aircraft Corporation was awarded the contract to build the spaceship .

The take-off mass of the capsule was 1,935 kg, the height without the rescue rocket 3.51 m, the largest diameter 1.89 m. In the event of a false start, the space capsule could be separated from the propulsion rocket by the rescue rocket and brought to safety. However, these rescue missiles never had to be used.

The astronaut was able to influence the position and trajectory of the capsule with the help of a hand control, but the space capsule was also equipped with a device that enabled the ground crew to control the spaceship completely remotely from Earth. Since the Mercury capsules had only a very limited internal volume, there was only room in them for a single astronaut - because of the very small dimensions, it was also jokingly said that the Mercury capsule was not flown, but pulled on.

The interior of the capsule had a volume of 1.7 cubic meters. The astronaut was able to operate the capsule with 55 switches, 30 fuses and 35 levers. The heat shield played an important role in the re-entry of the space capsule . Upon re-entry, acceleration forces of 4 g acted  on the astronaut. After re-entry, the capsule was parachuted to a halt and watered in the sea.

NASA ordered 20 space capsules, and additional, non-airworthy samples were built for tests.

The first tests

Little Joe with Mercury test spaceship

With the help of the test rocket Little Joe , which was already available for testing ballistic trajectories, the first tests with the spaceship and the rescue rocket could be carried out.

In addition, the “ Big Joe ” system was introduced on the basis of an Atlas rocket , with the help of which a spaceship could be transported high enough into space to test and practice the critical re-entry into the earth's atmosphere .

On 13 December 1958, was squirrel monkeys Gordo on top of a Jupiter-C rocket to the US Army in the weightlessness conveyed that it was exposed to 8.3 minutes. Gordo survived take-off and landing , but sank into the ocean and drowned due to a mechanical failure of the parachute functions with the rocket tip.

Development of the heat shield for the Mercury landing capsule also began at the beginning of the year . Several test starts failed during February and March.

The rescue system

Mercury spaceship

The rescue system of the spacecraft worked at the second start in April 1959 as scheduled and made the landing capsule regulations for splashdown in the Atlantic , so that the spacecraft from a helicopter could be salvaged.

With the help of a pig , Gentle Bess , McDonnell tested the impact stiffness of the landing capsule. The test was successful, the pig survived. NASA declined further tests with pigs because pigs cannot survive long in a sitting position.

The two monkeys Able and Miss Baker were shot 480 km into space on May 28, 1959 by means of a Jupiter rocket. They landed 2,735 km from Cape Canaveral and survived the flight.

In September a Mercury test flight with a Big Joe Atlas was almost 100 percent successful. Valuable knowledge about the re-entry angle and the temperatures occurring on the heat shield were gained.

On December 4, 1959, the rhesus monkey Sam was launched on the Little Joe 2 mission to test the functionality of the rescue system. Medical knowledge should also be gained during the flight. The test passed and Sam survived. A second test Little Joe 1B with the rhesus monkey Miss Sam was just as successful on January 21, 1960.

The astronaut search

At the beginning of 1959 the criteria for selecting the pilots were established . These were:

• Age under 40 years
• Height under 180 cm
• Excellent physical condition
• Bachelor's degree
• Graduation as test and jet pilot
• At least 1500 hours of flying experience

In February 1959, 110 candidates for the Mercury program were tested, including 19 women, of whom 13 (called the " Mercury 13 ") passed the medical tests.

The 7 Mercury astronauts

On April 9, 1959, the seven selected Mercury astronauts , also known as the "Mercury Seven", were introduced to the public at a press conference in Washington, DC . They were in detail:

• Lt. Commander Alan B. Shepard , Jr. (1923-1998) Navy
• Captain Virgil I. Grissom (1926-1967) Air Force
• Lt. Col. John H. Glenn , Jr. (1921-2016) Marines
• Lieutenant Malcolm Scott Carpenter (1925-2013) Navy
• Lt. Commander Walter M. Schirra , Jr. (1923-2007) Navy
• Captain Donald K. Slayton (1924-1993) Air Force
• Captain Leroy Gordon Cooper , Jr. (1927-2004) Air Force

The number 7 , which was added to the name of each individual spaceship and which can also be found in the logo of the mission, can be traced back to these seven astronauts. This was intended to demonstrate the good cooperation and to remind the team on every single mission.

Each astronaut was assigned a specialty in mission preparation. Nevertheless, the astronauts often exchanged questions together, sometimes had heated discussions, were always able to come to an agreement and thus effect various changes to the landing capsule, the propulsion rockets and safety systems.

Start of the first manned mission - Freedom 7

Mercury Atlas 9 on the launch pad

Mercury-Redstone and Mercury-Atlas

After the first Atlas and Redstone rockets and the associated spaceships had been delivered in mid-1960 , the Mercury Atlas 1 (MA-1) mission was launched on July 29, 1960 . But after just 59 seconds the rocket had to be blown up due to a structural defect. The Mercury spaceship was lost because there was no rescue system. After this failure, the project was subjected to several months of investigation.

During this time, the seven astronauts were prepared for their first flight with a variety of medical and physical tests. A centrifuge was installed to test gravity loads and a large water tank to simulate weightlessness .

The Mercury-Redstone 1 (MR-1) mission was canceled when only the rescue system was activated when the rocket was launched on the launch site on November 21, 1960. The replacement mission, Mercury-Redstone 1A (MR-1A), on December 19, 1960 went smoothly. The spaceship reached a height of approx. 210 km and was retrieved from the Atlantic by a helicopter 15 minutes later after it had dived into the water.

On January 31, 1961, the chimpanzee Ham was launched into space on the Mercury-Redstone 2 (MR-2) mission . Minor errors meant that the spaceship flew higher and further than had previously been planned and calculated. An unmanned mission, Mercury-Atlas 2 (MA-2), was successful on February 21, 1961.

The unmanned Mercury Atlas 3 (MA-3) mission on April 25, 1961, however, was a failed attempt. After the rocket did not turn 70 ° as intended after take-off in order to arrive at the intended flight path , the rescue system was activated and the landing capsule was detached. The Atlas missile was blown up shortly afterwards.

Manned flights

With the start of Alan Shepard in Mercury-Redstone 3 (MR-3), the age of manned space travel began for the Americans on May 5, 1961 . The first flights were only ballistic ; But they were able to prove the reliability of the technology and that it is possible to expose a person to very high acceleration values ​​during take-off and landing. Earth orbit was only reached from Mercury Atlas 6 onwards .

Flight chronology

mission	Name of the spaceship	begin	Duration	crew	comment
Mercury-Little-Joe 1		August 21, 1959	20 s	unmanned	atmospheric flight, rescue system misfire before takeoff
Mercury-Big-Joe 1		September 9, 1959	13 min	unmanned	suborbital flight, partially successful, first Mercury in space
Mercury-Little-Joe 6		4th October 1959	5 min	unmanned	atmospheric flight to test the rescue missile
Mercury-Little-Joe 1A		4th November 1959	8 min	unmanned	atmospheric flight, false start
Mercury-Little-Joe 2		4th December 1959	11 min	Rhesus monkey Sam	first American take-off with a monkey, test flight to abort flight
Mercury-Little-Joe 1B		January 21, 1960	8 min	Rhesus monkey Miss Sam	Flight termination successfully tested
Mercury Atlas 1		July 29, 1960	3 min	unmanned	atmospheric flight, false start
Mercury-Little-Joe 5		November 8, 1960	2 min	unmanned	atmospheric flight, not very successful
Mercury Redstone 1		November 21, 1960	2 s	unmanned	False start
Mercury Redstone 1A		December 12, 1960	15 minutes	unmanned	suborbital flight
Mercury Redstone 2		January 31, 1961	16 min	Chimpanzee Ham	suborbital flight, first monkey in space
Mercury Atlas 2		February 21, 1961	17 min	unmanned	suborbital flight
Mercury-Little-Joe 5A		March 18, 1961	23 min	unmanned	suborbital flight
Mercury-Redstone BD		March 24, 1961	8 min	unmanned	suborbital flight
Mercury Atlas 3		April 25, 1961	7 min	unmanned	False start
Mercury-Little-Joe 5B		April 28, 1961	5 min	unmanned	atmospheric flight, partially successful
Mercury Redstone 3	Freedom 7	May 5, 1961	15 minutes	Alan Shepard	suborbital flight , first American in space
Mercury Redstone 4	Liberty Bell 7	July 21, 1961	15 minutes	Virgil Grissom	suborbital flight, capsule sank unintentionally after splashing down
Mercury Atlas 4		September 13, 1961	1 h 49 min	unmanned	the first successful orbit in this program
Mercury Atlas 5		November 29, 1961	3 h 20 min	Chimpanzee Enos	three orbits planned, two carried out
Mercury Atlas 6	Friendship 7	February 20, 1962	4 h 55 min	John Glenn	First American in orbit , carried out as planned with minor problems, 3 orbits
Mercury Atlas 7	Aurora 7	May 24, 1962	4 h 56 min	Scott Carpenter	3 orbits of the earth. The only Mercury astronaut who left the capsule via the tip, as was originally planned by the technicians, all other astronauts used the blasting hatch.
Mercury Atlas 8	Sigma 7	3rd October 1962	9 h 13 min	Walter Schirra	“Space flight from a textbook”, 6 orbits the earth
Mercury Atlas 9	Faith 7	May 15, 1963	34 h 19 min	Gordon Cooper	22 orbits the earth in 34 hours 20 minutes, landing for the first time the following day

The end of the project

The smooth flight of Walter Schirra over 6 earth orbits with Mercury 8 led to an early termination of the Mercury space flights and the early start of the Gemini program . On June 12, 1963, the Mercury program officially ended. Since President John F. Kennedy, in his famous congressional speech on May 25, 1961, had declared the moon landing as the target within the current decade , more extensive space programs had to be envisaged because such ambitious plans could not be realized with the Mercury program. This was primarily due to the impossibility of maneuvering the spaceship. But that was an indispensable requirement for coupling maneuvers in space. The Gemini program followed, the planning phase of which had even begun in 1959.

See also

List of spacemen by selection groups

literature

German-language literature is marked accordingly

NASA Mission Reports

• Robert Godwin, SIGMA 7: the NASA Mission Reports , Apogee Books, 2003, ISBN 1-894959-01-9 (book & CD)
• Robert Godwin, Freedom 7: the NASA Mission Reports , Collector's Guide Publishing, 2001, ISBN 1-896522-80-7 (book & CD)
• Robert Godwin, Friendship 7: The First Flight of John Glenn , Apogee Books, 1999, ISBN 1-896522-60-2 (book & CD)

General

• Ruth Ashby, Rocket Man: The Mercury Adventure of John Glenn , Peachtree Publishers, 2004, ISBN 1-56145-323-4
• Scott Carpenter, For Spacious Skies: The Uncommon Journey of a Mercury Astronaut , Harcourt, 2003, ISBN 0-15-100467-6
• Martha Ackmann, The Mercury 13: The Untold Story of Thirteen American Women and the Dream of Space Flight , Random House, 2003, ISBN 0-375-50744-2
• Martha Ackmann, The Mercury 13 , Thorndike Press, 2003, ISBN 0-7862-5818-7
• Helen Zelon, The Mercury 6 Mission: The First American Astronaut to Orbit Earth , PowerKids Press, 2002, ISBN 0-8239-5770-5
• John E. Catchpole, Project Mercury , Springer-Praxis, 2001, ISBN 1-85233-406-1
• Bryan Ethier, Fly Me to the Moon: Lost in Space with the Mercury Generation , McGregor Publishing, 1999, ISBN 0-9653846-5-9
• Diane M. and Paul P. Sipiera, Project Mercury , Children's Press, 1997, ISBN 0-516-20443-2
• Diverse, The Mercury Seven , Abdo & Daughters Publishing, 1996, ISBN 1-56239-565-3
• Donald K. Slayton, Deke !: US Manned Space: From Mercury to the Shuttle , Forge, 1994, ISBN 0-312-85503-6
• Bernd Leitenberger: The Mercury Program: Technology and History , Space Edition, Norderstedt 2018, ISBN 978-3-74814-913-2

Movies

• The NASA Program - The Mercury Program
• The Stuff the Heroes are Made of , feature film USA - 1983, director: Philip Kaufman , actors: Sam Shepard , Scott Glenn , Ed Harris , Dennis Quaid , Fred Ward u. a.
• Race to Space in IMDB

Web links

Commons : Mercury Program  - collection of images, videos, and audio files

• Mercury sides of the NASA (English)
• NASA: Mercury Project Summary (English)
• NASA History Series: This New Ocean - A History of Project Mercury (English)
• NASA: Project Mercury - A Chronology (English)
• NASA photos of the Mercury program

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Gordo, US space monkey, 1950s - Stock Image S300 / 0025 - Science Photo Library
2. ^ Mary Robinette Kowal: To Make It to the Moon, Women Have to Escape Earth's Gender Bias. In: The New York Times. July 17, 2019, accessed July 21, 2019 . 
3. ^ Mercury Program Nears End: 18 Orbits to Go ; Electronics, Oct 12, 1962, p. 7.