Project Mercury (1959–1963) was the first human spaceflight program of the United States. It ran from 1959 through 1963 with the goal of putting a human in orbit around the Earth. The Mercury-Atlas 6 flight on 20 February 1962, piloted by John Glenn, was the first Mercury flight to achieve this goal. U.S. Marines who were astronauts in the Mercury program:
- Lieutenant Colonel John H. Glenn, first American to make an orbital flight. (Glenn also flew aboard Space Shuttle Discovery)
Read more about this topic: List Of United States Marine Corps Astronauts
Famous quotes containing the words project and/or mercury:
“If we should swap a good library for a second-rate stump speech and not ask for boot, it would be thoroughly in tune with our hearts. For deep within each of us lies politics. It is our football, baseball, and tennis rolled into one. We enjoy it; we will hitch up and drive for miles in order to hear and applaud the vitriolic phrases of a candidate we have already reckoned we’ll vote against.”
—Federal Writers’ Project Of The Wor, U.S. public relief program (1935-1943)
“The mercury sank in the mouth of the dying day.
What instruments we have agree
The day of his death was a dark cold day.”
—W.H. (Wystan Hugh)