visibility Similar

S26-05-017 - STS-026 - STS-26 crew activities

S89E5217 - STS-089 - MS Thomas wears a Sokol spacesuit on the Mir Space Station

Michael Griffin Update. NASA public domain image colelction.

S35-517-005 - STS-035 - Earth observations taken during the STS-35 mission

STS073-190-003 - STS-073 - Payload Specialist Al Sacco and Payload Commander Kathy Thronton in Spacelab

John H Glenn Jr., NASA Mercury project

STS087-334-008 - STS-087 - USMP-4 MGBX, Lindsey and Chawla work with a glovebox experiment

STS050-272-007 - STS-050 - Crewmember in the forward flight deck.

STS084-359-025 - STS-084 - STS-84 and Mir 23 crew eating in the Mir Space Station Base Block

code Related

Astronaut Gordon Cooper - Mercury Project

Astronaut Gordon Cooper - Mercury Project

Astronaut Gordon Cooper - Mercury Project

John H. Glenn - Mercury Project

Mercury Project - Astronaut Virgil Gus Grissom

Mercury Project Astronaut John Glenn

Mercury Project - Astronaut John Glenn enters the Mercury spacecraft

Mercury Project Alan B. Shepard, Jr.

Portrait - Full-Lenth - Mercury Astronaut L. Gordon Cooper, Jr. - Spacesuit

Mercury Project - L. Gordon Cooper, Jr

description

Summary

Astronaut L. Gordon Cooper, Jr., one of the original seven astronauts for Mercury Project selected by NASA on April 27, 1959. The MA-9 mission, boosted by the Mercury-Atlas launch vehicle, was the last flight of the Mercury Project. The Faith 7 spacecraft orbited the Earth 22 times in 1-1/2 days.

The Space Race began with a shock to the American public when the Soviet satellite Sputnik was launched in 1957. United states created NASA accelerate U.S. space exploration efforts and launched the Explorer 1 satellite in 1958. The Soviet Union was first again when it puts the first human, cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, into a single orbit on April 12, 1961. Shortly after this, on May 5, the U.S. launched Alan Shepard, on a suborbital flight and reached its orbital goal on February 20, 1962, when John Glenn made three orbits around the Earth in the Mercury capsule. The Mercury space capsule was a pressurized cabin produced by McDonnell Aircraft and carried supplies of water, food, and oxygen for about one day. Mercury was launched on a top of modified Atlas D ballistic missiles. The capsule was fitted with a launch escape rocket to carry it safely away from the launch vehicle in case of a failure. Small retrorockets were used to bring the spacecraft out of its orbit, after which an ablative heat shield protected it from the heat of atmospheric reentry. Finally, a parachute slowed the craft for a water landing. Both astronaut and capsule were recovered by helicopters deployed from a U.S. Navy ship. The Mercury project missions were followed by millions on radio and TV around the world. Its success laid the groundwork for Project Gemini, which carried two astronauts in each capsule and perfected space docking maneuvers essential for manned lunar landings in the Apollo program announced just a few weeks after the first manned Mercury launch.

label_outline

Tags

cooper original seven astronauts mercury project ma 9 mercury atlas faith 7 msfc marshall space flight center mercury project gordon cooper high resolution seven astronauts astronaut ma 9 mission astronauts nasa
date_range

Date

27/04/1959
collections

in collections

Project Mercury

The first human spaceflight program of the United States.
place

Location

Marshall Spaceflight Center, Huntsville, Madison County, Alabama, United States, 35808 ,  34.63076, -86.66505
create

Source

NASA
link

Link

https://images.nasa.gov/
copyright

Copyright info

Public Domain Dedication (CC0)

label_outline Explore Faith 7, Ma 9, Mercury Atlas

S109E5036 - STS-109 - Aft end Hubble Space Telescope prior to grapple by STS-109 orbiter Columbia

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – A cloud rises from Runway 15 at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida as the wheels of space shuttle Discovery contact the pavement. Landing of Discovery March 28, 2009, completed the 13-day, 5.3-million mile journey on the STS-119 mission to the International Space Station. Main gear touchdown was at 3:13:17 p.m. EDT. Nose gear touchdown was at 3:13:40 p.m. and wheels stop was at 3:14:45 p.m. Discovery delivered the final pair of large power-generating solar array wings and the S6 truss segment. The mission was the 28th flight to the station, the 36th flight of Discovery and the 125th in the Space Shuttle Program, as well as the 70th landing at Kennedy. Photo credit: NASA/Ben Cooper KSC-2009-2359

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Mercury astronauts, John Glenn, left, and Scott Carpenter, talk to Mercury Project workers and other guests in the Astronaut Encounter Theater at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida. The pair participated in 50th anniversary events at the launch site of Glenn's first orbital flight aboard NASA's Friendship 7 capsule, which launched Feb. 20, 1962, aboard an Atlas rocket. At right, is Jack King, who was chief of Kennedy's Public Information Office during Project Mercury. Glenn's launch aboard an Atlas rocket took with it the hopes of an entire nation and ushered in a new era of space travel that eventually led to Americans walking on the moon by the end of the 1960s. Glenn soon was followed into orbit by Carpenter, Walter Schirra and Gordon Cooper. Their fellow Mercury astronauts Alan Shepard and Virgil "Gus" Grissom flew earlier suborbital flights. Deke Slayton, a member of NASA's original Mercury 7 astronauts, was grounded by a medical condition until the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project in 1975. Photo credit: Kim Shiflett KSC-2012-1477

Cooper Egressing Faith 7. NASA public domain image colelction.

Mercury Project, NASA Mercury project

Apollo 11 - Saturn Apollo Program

JOHNSON SPACE CENTER, HOUSTON -- STS123-S-002-- These seven astronauts take a break from training to pose for the STS-123 crew portrait. From the right (front row) are astronauts Dominic L. Gorie, commander, and Gregory H. Johnson, pilot. From the left (back row) are astronauts Richard M. Linnehan, Robert L. Benken, Garrett E. Reisman, Michael J. Foreman and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's (JAXA) Takao Doi, all mission specialists. Reisman is scheduled to join Expedition 16 as flight engineer after launching to the International Space Station on mission STS-123. The crewmembers are attired in training versions of their shuttle launch and entry suits. KSC-08pd0364

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – Space shuttle Atlantis is ready to roll out of the Vehicle Assembly Building to Launch Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Atlantis is targeted to lift off May 12 to service NASA's Hubble Space Telescope. First motion was at 3:54 a.m. EDT. The 3.4-mile trip will take about six hours. During Atlantis' 11-day mission, the crew of seven astronauts will make the final shuttle flight to Hubble. During five spacewalks, they will install two new instruments, repair two inactive ones and replace components. The result will be six working, complementary science instruments with capabilities beyond what is now available, and an extended operational lifespan for the telescope through at least 2014. Photo credit: NASA/Jack Pfaller KSC-2009-2436

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- STS-123 Mission Specialist Mike Foreman, at left, is greeted by Shuttle Launch Director Mike Leinbach following his arrival at NASA Kennedy Space Center's Shuttle Landing Facility. The crew for space shuttle Endeavour's STS-123 mission is at Kennedy for a full launch dress rehearsal, known as the terminal countdown demonstration test or TCDT. Endeavour's seven astronauts arrived at Kennedy's Shuttle Landing Facility in their T-38 training aircraft between 10:45 and 10:58 a.m. EST. The terminal countdown demonstration test provides astronauts and ground crews with an opportunity to participate in various simulated countdown activities, including equipment familiarization and emergency training. Endeavour is targeted to launch March 11 at 2:28 a.m. EDT on a 16-day mission to the International Space Station. On the mission, Endeavour and its crew will deliver the first section of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's Kibo laboratory and the Canadian Space Agency's two-armed robotic system, Dextre. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett KSC-08pd0454

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- At NASA Kennedy Space Center's Launch Complex 39, STS-123 Mission Specialist Rick Linnehan takes time out from driving practice of the M-113 armored personnel carrier to pose for a photo. The crew members of space shuttle Endeavour's STS-123 mission will each practice driving the M-113 in turn as part of his training on emergency egress procedures. An M-113 will be available to transport the crew to safety in the event of a contingency on the pad before their launch. The STS-123 crew is at Kennedy for a full launch dress rehearsal, known as the terminal countdown demonstration test or TCDT. Endeavour's seven astronauts arrived at Kennedy's Shuttle Landing Facility in their T-38 training aircraft between 10:45 and 10:58 a.m. EST. The terminal countdown demonstration test provides astronauts and ground crews with an opportunity to participate in various simulated countdown activities, including equipment familiarization and emergency training. Endeavour is targeted to launch March 11 at 2:28 a.m. EDT on a 16-day mission to the International Space Station. On the mission, Endeavour and its crew will deliver the first section of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's Kibo laboratory and the Canadian Space Agency's two-armed robotic system, Dextre. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett KSC-08pd0476

JOHNSON SPACE CENTER, Houston -- STS127-S-002 (10 Oct. 2008) --- Attired in training versions of their shuttle launch and entry suits, these seven astronauts take a break from training to pose for the STS-127 crew portrait. Pictured on the front row are astronauts Mark Polansky (right), commander, and Doug Hurley, pilot. Remaining crew members, pictured from left to right, are astronauts Dave Wolf, Christopher Cassidy, Canadian Space Agency's Julie Payette, Tom Marshburn and Tim Kopra, all mission specialists. Kopra is scheduled to join Expedition 20 as flight engineer after launching to the International Space Station with the STS-127 crew. KSC-2009-3267

Space Shuttle Columbia, Space Shuttle Projects

Topics

cooper original seven astronauts mercury project ma 9 mercury atlas faith 7 msfc marshall space flight center mercury project gordon cooper high resolution seven astronauts astronaut ma 9 mission astronauts nasa