Initiated in 1958 and completed in 1963, Project Mercury was the United States' first human-in-space program. The objectives of the program, which made six manned flights from 1961 to 1963, were to orbit a crewed spacecraft around Earth, test humans' ability to function in space, and the successful re-entry and recovery of the spacecraft and crew.
The Mercury galleries below have been separated by mission
number, and each mission contains one or more cameras. Some of the missions
used multiple cameras for experiments and documentation, and each camera has
its own gallery. Select a gallery below to get started.
For more information on the Mercury program, visit the
Mercury History Page,
or to learn more about these historical frames, visit the About the Scans page.