** Mercury-Atlas, the combination Atlas and Mercury spacecraft

First conceived during the Presidency of Dwight D. Eisenhower as a three-man spacecraft to follow the one-man Project Mercury which put the first Americans in space, Apollo was later dedicated to President John F. Kennedy's national goal of " landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to the Earth " by the end of the 1960s, which he proposed in a May 25, 1961 address to Congress.

While the Mercury capsule could only support one astronaut on a limited Earth orbital mission, the Apollo spacecraft was to be able to carry three astronauts on a circumlunar flight and eventually to a lunar landing.

Remotely guided space probes have flown by all of the planets of the Solar System from Mercury to Neptune, with the New Horizons probe currently en route to fly by the dwarf planet Pluto and the Dawn spacecraft en route to the dwarf planet Ceres.

Because of their small size, it was said that the Mercury spacecraft were worn, not ridden.

A number of Mercury boilerplate spacecraft ( including mockup / prototype / replica spacecraft, made from non-flight materials or lacking production spacecraft systems and / or hardware ) were also made by NASA and McDonnell Aircraft.

It was a solid-fuel rocket designed specially for Project Mercury and theoretically able to carry a spacecraft to an altitude of on a ballistic curve.

The Atlas D rocket required extra strengthening in order to handle the increased weight of the Mercury spacecraft beyond that of the nuclear warheads they were designed to carry.

During the launch phase of the mission, the Mercury spacecraft and astronaut were protected from launch vehicle failures by the Launch Escape System.

The Mercury spacecraft was designed to be completely controllable from the ground in the event that something impaired the pilot's ability to function.

rightThe Mariner 10 spacecraft launched on November 3, 1973 and was the first to use a gravity assist trajectory, accelerating as it entered the gravitational influence of Venus, then being flung by the planet's gravity onto a slightly different course to reach Mercury.

It was also the first spacecraft to encounter two planets at close range, and for 33 years the only spacecraft to photograph Mercury in closeup.

Still, controversy remained, and fellow Mercury astronaut Wally Schirra, at the end of his October 3, 1962 flight, remained inside his spacecraft until it was safely aboard the recovery ship, and made a point of deliberately blowing the hatch to get out, bruising his hand.

In a joking nod to the sinking of his Mercury craft Grissom named the first Gemini spacecraft Molly Brown after the popular Broadway show The Unsinkable Molly Brown ; NASA publicity officials were unhappy with this name.

There were five other manned missions using Mercury spacecraft.

For the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo spacecraft, such communications blackouts lasted for several minutes.

* August 15 – The BepiColombo spacecraft will be launched to Mercury.

Other exhibits include an OmniMax theater, Scott Carpenter's Mercury Atlas 7 spacecraft, a Lunar Module trainer and a life-size mockup of a space shuttle.

* 1999 July: The Liberty Bell 7 Mercury spacecraft is raised from 16, 043 feet ( 4891 m ) of water in the Atlantic Ocean during the deepest commercial search and recovery operation to date.

Glenn was a combat aviator in the Marine Corps and one of the Mercury Seven, who were the elite U. S. military test pilots selected by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration ( NASA ) to operate the experimental Mercury spacecraft and become the first American astronauts.

* 1961-US, a Mercury capsule named Freedom 7 with Alan B. Shepard, spacecraft was launched by a Redstone rocket on a ballistic trajectory suborbital flight.

# Rembrandt – Mercury – Diameter: 715 km

# REDIRECT Mercury ( planet )

# REDIRECT Mercury ( element )

# redirect Mercury ( planet )

# Mercury, the Winged Messenger

# redirect Mercury ( element )

# REDIRECT Mercury ( mythology )

After a horrible 2003 season, in which the Mercury posted an 8 – 26 record, the Mercury won the # 1 overall choice in the 2004 WNBA Draft, and select coveted former UConn star Diana Taurasi.

The Mercury also drafted Cappie Pondexter with the # 2 overall selection in the 2006 WNBA Draft.

The Mercury would run away with the Western Conference, posting their best record in franchise history at 23 – 11, as well as clinching the # 1 seed.

32, # 3 May / June, Mercury ( Astronomical Society of the Pacific ) 2003

# REDIRECT Mercury ( mythology )

# REDIRECT The Mercury Theatre on the Air

Issue # 15 " Mercury Rising "-" thanks Escher "

# Mercury

** 26 May – David Pearson wins the World 500 in the # 21 Mercury for Wood Brothers

** 20 February – A. J. Foyt wins the Daytona 500 in the # 21 Mercury for Wood Brothers

** 22 February – Bobby Allison wins the World 500 in the # 29 Mercury for Holman Moody

# Mercury Interactive

# REDIRECT Boeing E-6 Mercury

The Redstone was MRLV-8 and the spacecraft was Mercury spacecraft # 11, the first with a centerline window instead of two portholes.

Spacecraft # 11 was the first Mercury operational spacecraft with a centerline window.

# REDIRECT Mercury ( element )