Project Mercury: America in Space Series

by Eugen Reichl

Overview

Project Mercury was America's entry into the manned spaceflight program. When the program began in 1958, the Soviet Union was far ahead of the US in the race for supremacy in space. With immense effort, and in record time, NASA, the newly created spaceflight organization, developed a space transport system with orbital capsule and booster rockets. They used it to send Alan Shepard on a first suborbital "jump" into space in May 1961, and in February 1962 to make John Glenn the first American astronaut to orbit the earth. Nevertheless, the Americans were beaten by the Soviets in the race to put the first man into space. Project Mercury was, however, the foundation for NASA's later success in the race to the moon. All Project Mercury missions are discussed, including details on all craft and the astronauts involved. Superb color, archival images, cutaways and plans are also included.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780764350696
Publisher:	Schiffer Publishing, Ltd.
Publication date:	03/28/2016
Series:	America in Space Series , #1
Pages:	144
Sales rank:	904,474
Product dimensions:	6.30(w) x 9.10(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Eugen Reichl works for the EADS aviation and aerospace company. He is a known expert on aerospace technology and has authored books and specialty articles on the topic.

Table of Contents

Project Mercury Began in Peenemünde 4

The Dawn of Space Travel 5

Redstone and Atlas 6

Sputnik Shock 12

The Founding of NASA 14

The Heat Barrier 17

Birth of the Space Capsule 18

Contract for Capsule and Launch Vehicle 22

Little Joe and Big Joe 24

Seven Astronauts and One Name 25

Technical Basics 28

Hideout on the Cape 33

Spam or Important Component 35

A Question of Reliability 37

The Flight of "Big Joe" 39

Launch Problem for Little Joe 44

The Space Suit 51

Seven Men for Space 52

Atlas and Little Joe Fail 55

MR-1 Fails-MR-1A Succeeds 60

Ham's Big Moment 64

Once Qualified and Once Not 74

Yuri Gagarin and One Intermediate Step Too Many 77

Successful Failures 82

The Naming of Mercury 84

The Flight of Freedom 7 88

The Sinking of the Liberty Bell 92

From the Titov Shock to Guest Performance of the Scout 98

Enos Goes into Orbit 106

Preparation for John Glenn 110

The Mission of Friendship 7 114

The Slayton Case 120

Aurora 7 Lands Off Target 122

A Textbook Flight 130

Faith Validated 136

Epilogue 143

Chronology 144