ABOUT FACTS NET Air/Space Craft

When the Soviets launched the Vostok Missions the U.S. panicked, they needed an answer to keep up the people's faith in our technology, so they decided to institute the Mercury flights. Were the Mercury flights really an answer of equal technology? Unfortunately not. The launch vehicle was not as powerful, the capsule not as big, the flights of short duration and orbit wasn't attained until the third flight. The objectives of the project, according to NASA, was to place a manned spacecraft in orbital flight around the earth, investigate man's performance capabilities and his ability to function in the environment of space and to recover the man and the spacecraft safely. The true objectives were to make the average American believe that we had space technology equal to the Soviets at the time, not to loose face by letting the Soviets beat us in the space race and to surpass the Soviets in space in the future.

Freedom 7 was the name of the first ship to put an American in space. It was launched on May 5, 1961. Alan B. Shepard Jr. was our first successful astronaut. The ship reached an altitude of 116.5 miles and the flight lasted for 15 minutes and 28 seconds. Orbit was not achieved and hadn't been planned. The vehicle reached speeds of 5,134 mph. A Redstone rocket was the launch vehicle. It came down in the Atlantic Ocean.

Liberty Bell 7 was the second vehicle to launch. It was sent up on July 21, 1961. Virgil I "Gus" Grissom was the pilot. The ship reached an altitude of 118.3 miles and the flight lasted for 15 minutes and 37 seconds. Again orbit wasn't achieved and hadn't been planned for. Speeds of 5,134 mph were again reached. The same type of launch vehicle was used, a Redstone rocket. The space ship was lost because of premature activation of the explosive bolts in the hatch when it had landed in the water but Grissom escaped unharmed. The landing was once again in the Atlantic Ocean.

Friendship 7 was the third launch in the series. The launch took place on February 20, 1962 and the pilot of the craft was John H. Glenn Jr. Glenn became the first American to achieve orbit during this flight. He circled the Earth three times and the flight lasted 4 hours, 55 minutes and 23 seconds. He reached speeds of 17, 544 mph. This time a different launch vehicle was used, an Atlas rocket. During this flight a faulty switch indicated that a clamp had been opened that held the heat shield and because of this, NASA decided to keep the retropack in place during reentry, which was usually jettisoned, to hold the shield in place. Reentry was very hazardous. Glenn remained in the craft during pickup which only took 21 minutes. Again as with all flights, the ocean was the pickup area.

Aurora 7 was the fourth of the Mercury series. The pilot was M. Scott Carpenter. The launch took place on May 24, 1962. Again an Atlas rocket was used. He achieved three orbits and reached a speed of only a couple of miles more per hour than Friendship 7. The flight lasted 4 hours, 56 minutes and 5 seconds. Carpenter was picked up by a helicopter sent from the carrier Intrepid. The Atlas and Mercury capsule performed very well together. The cabin had gotten warm but not intolerable.

Sigma 7 was the fifth vehicle in the Mercury series. The pilot of this craft was Walter M. Schirra Jr. The launch took place on October 3, 1962 by Atlas rocket. This time six orbits were made for a total flight time of 9 hours, 13 minutes, 11 seconds. The velocity in this orbital flights are almost all identical. Schirra had been weightless for 8 hours, 58 minutes and 22 seconds. The usual ocean recovery was employed.

Faith 7 was the sixth and last manned Mercury flight. The pilot was l. Gordon Cooper. He was boosted into orbit by the Atlas rocket on May 15, 1963. This time the 24 hour barrier for American orbits had been broken. He made 22.5 Earth orbits and stayed up for 1 day, 10 hours and 49 seconds and was weightless for 34 hours, 3 minutes and 30 seconds. Splash down was successful.

Here are some Technical Diagrams from Project Mercury:

Left: Mercury Capsule Interior Assignment
Center: Main Instrument Panel
Right: Console Panels

Launch of Freedom 7