Mercury

In-active Human Rated Capsule Crew Capacity: 1 Diameter: 1.8 m Height: 3.3 m

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May 5, 1961

Human transportation to upper Earth atmosphere and low Earth orbit.

Flight Life

Between 15 minutes and 3 days.

Description

The Mercury spacecraft's principal designer was Maxime Faget, who started research for manned spaceflight during the time of the NACA. With 100 cubic feet (2.8 m3) of habitable volume, the capsule was just large enough for a single crew member. Inside were 120 controls: 55 electrical switches, 30 fuses and 35 mechanical levers. The heaviest spacecraft, Mercury-Atlas 9, weighed 3,000 pounds (1,400 kg) fully loaded. Its outer skin was made of René 41, a nickel alloy able to withstand high temperatures.

History

The Mercury spacecraft was the manned capsule used for suborbital and orbital launches during the Project Mercury, the first human spaceflight program of the United States, from 1958 through 1963.



Falcon 9
Success
4 hours, 7 minutes ago
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Success
18 hours, 3 minutes ago
Kosmos 2588
43/4 (43R) - Plesetsk Cosmodrome, Russian Federation

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Kinetica 1
Success
2 days, 22 hours ago
6 satellites
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Falcon 9
Success
2 days, 23 hours ago
Starlink Group 12-15
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A batch of 23 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system.


Long March 7A
Success
3 days, 14 hours ago
ChinaSat 3B
201 - Wenchang Space Launch Site, People's Republic of China

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Ceres-1S
Success
4 days, 19 hours ago
Tianqi 16-18 & 20
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PSLV-XL
Failure
6 days, 2 hours ago
EOS-09 (RISAT-1B)
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6 days, 18 hours ago
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Zhuque-2E
Success
6 days, 22 hours ago
6 satellites
Launch Area 96 - Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, People's Republic of China

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Falcon 9
Success
1 week ago
Starlink Group 15-5
Space Launch Complex 4E - Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA

A batch of 26 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system.