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The Mercury mission that forced NASA to rely on human piloting skills

One of the most remarkable moments in early space exploration occurred during the final mission of NASA’s Mercury program. Astronaut Gordon “Gordo” Cooper spent more than a day in orbit aboard the ...
The Spokesman-Review

'The Clock Has Started:' Alan Shepard and the Mercury missions

Those were the words Alan Shepard used 60 years ago Wednesday to note his cockpit timepiece had begun running. This meant his Redstone rocket booster had left the ground sending him and his one-man ...
Electronic Design

Project Mercury and SpaceShipOne: Two Different Missions that Shaped the Space Race (Part 1)

Although NASA’s Project Mercury and SpaceShipOne served very different objectives, a closer look reveals that both missions were powered by equal parts of competition, innovation, and a strong dose of ...
Electronic Design

Project Mercury and SpaceShipOne: Two Different Missions that Shaped the Space Race (Part 2)

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 ...