Mercury

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

()

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.



Long March 3
Success
1 day, 18 hours ago
TJSW-15
Launch Complex 3 (LC-3/LA-1) - Xichang Satellite Launch Center, People's Republic of China

Chinese classified satellite claimed to be for communication technology test purposes. Actual mission not known.


Starship
Failure
4 days, 11 hours ago
Flight 8
Orbital Launch Mount A - SpaceX Starbase, TX, USA

Eighth test flight of the two-stage Starship launch vehicle.


Ariane 62
Success
4 days, 18 hours ago
CSO-3
Ariane Launch Area 4 - Guiana Space Centre, French Guiana

The CSO-3 (Composante Spatiale Optique-3 satellite is the third of three new-generation high-resolution optical imaging satellites for the French mil…


Falcon 9
Success
1 week, 1 day ago
Starlink Group 12-20
Space Launch Complex 40 - Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA

A batch of 21 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system.


Soyuz 2.1b/Fregat-M
Success
1 week, 1 day ago
Glonass-K2 No. 14 (Kosmos 2584)
43/3 (43L) - Plesetsk Cosmodrome, Russian Federation

Glonass-K2 are the fourth generation of satellite design for GLONASS satellite navigation system. GLONASS is a Russian space-based navigation system …


Kuaizhou
Failure
1 week, 3 days ago
Unknown Payload
Launch Area 95A - Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, People's Republic of China

Details TBD.


Soyuz 2.1a
Success
1 week, 4 days ago
Progress MS-30 (91P)
31/6 - Baikonur Cosmodrome, Republic of Kazakhstan

Progress resupply mission to the International Space Station.


Long March 2
Success
1 week, 5 days ago
SuperView Neo 1-03 & 04
Launch Area 4 (SLS-2 / 603) - Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, People's Republic of China

Commercial Earth observation satellites (~540 kg each) built by CAST for China Siwei Survey and Mapping Technology Co. Ltd., with resolution down to …


Falcon 9
Success
1 week, 5 days ago
Starlink Group 12-13
Space Launch Complex 40 - Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA

A batch of 21 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system.


Falcon 9
Success
1 week, 5 days ago
Nova-C IM-2 & Others
Launch Complex 39A - Kennedy Space Center, FL, USA

This is the second mission of Nova-C lunar lander developed and built by Intuitive Machines. This time it carries a NASA payload called PRIME-1 (Pola…