On, NASA marked a major milestone in America’s early space program with the first successful launch of a Mercury-Atlas rocket. [...] ...

Part 2 explores the dramatically different approaches to the launch systems, and the surprising similarities in the factors that contributed to their success. Although they served very different ...

Sitting beside his Friendship 7 capsule, astronaut John Glenn, pilot of the Mercury-Atlas 6 mission, is suited up, preparing for the launch. Artist Cecilia Bibby, who painted the Friendship 7 ...

On May 15, 1963, NASA astronaut Gordon Cooper launched on the sixth and final crewed flight of the Mercury Program. This was also the last time a NASA astronaut launched on a solo mission to space.