Program archive

Project Mercury

Project Mercury established that astronauts could launch, work in space, survive orbital flight, and return safely—creating the operational foundation for Gemini and Apollo.

Missions: 26
People: 6
Vehicles: 36

Explore this program

Choose a path through the Project Mercury archive.

Currently viewing · Timeline

Project Mercury timeline

26 flights. One complete program record.

Follow every archived flight from the earliest development test through the program’s latest flown mission, with its defining milestones and mission hardware connected along the way.

Defining milestones

The turning points that shaped this program and its legacy.

Every Mercury program record

All 26 flown and non-flight archive records arranged chronologically.

Launch corridor

26 flights and tests compressed into 2 expandable arcs.

Arc 01Ignition1959–1961 · 22 records
Arc 02Final approach1962–1963 · 4 records

Flight arc 01IgnitionLittle Joe 1 → Mercury-Atlas 51959–1961 · 22 records1959–1961
22 records

Flight arc 02Final approachMercury-Atlas 6 → Mercury-Atlas 91962–1963 · 4 records1962–1963
4 records