The Mercury capsule
On May 5, 1961, Alan Shepard became the first U.S. astronaut to go to space on board the Mercury space capsule. The 15-minute suborbital flight was NASA’s first dipping of its toes into the celestial waters, with the main objectives being to assess human capabilities in a space environment and safely return astronauts to Earth.
Project Mercury, the first American human spaceflight program, ran from 1958 through 1963. In the photo above, Project Mercury astronaut John H. Glenn, Jr. is seen entering his Mercury Friendship 7 capsule before launch on February 20, 1962. Glenn became the first U.S. astronaut to orbit Earth during his nearly 5-hour flight. Glenn’s flight was cut short by a faulty signal indicating a problem with the heat shield, but he returned to Earth safely after three orbits.
