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Mercury Program Sources Missions Launch Site Astronauts Space Craft Zach Will Pd. 3
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Astronauts John GlennJohn Glenn – First American to orbit the earth Alan ShepardAlan Shepard - First American to make a suborbital flight into space. Virgil Grissom - Second suborbital flight. Spacecraft sank before recovery when hatch unexpectedly blew off. There was a total of seven but these are the three that made historic firsts. NASA also used chimpanzees in the Mercury Program Ham the chimp
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Alan Shepard Born November 18, 1923 Went into space 2 times Was a test pilot prior to being an astronaut Commanded the Mercury 3 mission In the Apollo program was involved in the third lunar landing
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John Glenn Born July 18, 1921 Was the first American to orbit the earth Commanded the Mercury 6 mission Was the Ohio senator from 1974 – 1999 Went into space for a second time at age 77 and still holds the record for oldest man in space
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Missions Total of 29 missions First twenty were unmanned The last nine were manned and three were canceled Most important Missions Mercury - Redstone 3 – Alan Shepard made the first suborbital flight for America May 5, 1961 Mercury-Atlas 6 – John Glenn completed the first American orbit in space. February 20, 1962
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Spacecraft Rockets RedstoneRedstone – 83 ft. Rocket used in the beginning of the program Atlas – 82 ft. Rocket used later in the program Mercury Capsule One crew member 1.7 cubic feet of habitable volume Over 120 controls Escape system in event of rocket failure
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Launch Site Kennedy Space Center Cape Canaveral, Florida Has been the main launch site since 1968 Opened early in 1961 Replaced a launch site in Alabama Is now a popular tourist destination Rocket Launch Video
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Sources Mercury Program. Web. 24 Feb. 2010.. NASA - Home. Web. 23 Feb. 2010.. Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Web. 23 Feb. 2010..
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