-the Mercury spacecrafts were to be launched by a Redstone or an Atlas rocket
-the original design of the spacecrafts were bell-shaped
-in the craft there was only space for one cosmonaut
-the capsule contained pure oxygen
-there were seven unpiloted test flights before the first manned mission
-five out of seven of them were successful
-the requirements for the mercury astronauts included an engineering background, experience flying a jet aircraft, physically fit and no taller than 5 feet and 11 inches

The goals of the Mercury Program
1.Orbit a manned spacecraft around the Earth
2.Investigate man's ability to function in space
3.Recover man in spacecraft safely back to Earth

-the total cost of the program was $392.1 million

1.Freedom 7
astronaut:Alan Shepard
-Shepard became the first American man in space
-launched May 15, 1961
-launched to a speed of 5,146 miles per hour
-landed in the Pacific Ocean
-after seperating from the booster rocket Shepard controlled the aircraft and pointed it in a certain direction
-flight lasted 15 minutes and 22 seconds

2.Liberty Bell 7
astronaut:Gil Grissom
-launched July 21, 1961
-had a crack painted on the side of the capsule making it look like the Liberty Bell
-hatch opened prematurely while waiting to be recovered in the Bahamas
-forced Grissom out of the capsule
-he floated in the water until hiss suit became waterlogged and began to be pulled under the water
-he was rescued but the capsule sank
-some people believed the hatch blew because Grissom opened prematurely others thought it blew from an unknown reason
-was up in space 15 minutes and 37 seconds
-capsule never recovered

3.Friendship 7
astronaut:John Glenn
-launched February 20,1962
-after one hour and four minutes he ate a tube of applesauce
-described observations of earth from space
-upon reentry there were concerns that the landing bag and heat shield might have come loose
-the speed it would be going to reenter the atmosphere of Earth the capsule would become a fireball, after debates the retro rocket would just be released later rather than on time
-upon reentry the heat shield stayed in place and John Glenn was returned safely to Earth
-flight lasted 55 minutes

4.Aurora 7
astronaut:Scott Carpenter
-three orbit flight
-a twin to Friendship 7
-carried out experiments
-landed 250 miles off target
-located three hours after landing

5.Sigma 7
astronaut:Wally Schirra
-Schirra was the only astronaut to fly in all three programs
-launched October 1962
-six-orbit mission
-first telecast beamed back to earth

6.Fate 7
astronaut:Gordon Cooper
-launched May 1963
-orbited for 34 hours and 19 minutes
-first to launch a satellite from space
-capsule had a short circuit
-had to have a manual recovery

The last Mercury mission was cancelled because Deke Slayton was found to have a heart murmur. This made it impossible for him to fly.